Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $110.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 88.33% from the company’s current price.

PCVX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vaxcyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Vaxcyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, July 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.40.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCVX traded up $2.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.41. The stock had a trading volume of 776,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,375,662. Vaxcyte has a 52 week low of $33.62 and a 52 week high of $65.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a PE ratio of -7.68 and a beta of 1.22.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.22) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -7.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.89, for a total value of $538,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 105,176 shares in the company, valued at $5,667,934.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $935,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 76,756 shares in the company, valued at $4,221,580. The trade was a 18.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 65,890 shares of company stock worth $3,683,224 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 72.8% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 560 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 1,924.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 830 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte during the first quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte during the second quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

Vaxcyte, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing vaccines to prevent serious bacterial infections. The company’s lead programs target pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis, bloodstream infections and other invasive illnesses. Vaxcyte is developing broad-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidates designed to protect against a wide range of bacterial serotypes.

Vaxcyte’s pipeline has included VAX-24, an investigational 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, and VAX-31, a next-generation candidate designed to cover 31 serotypes.