Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Stock Keeps “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $110.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 88.78% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vaxcyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vaxcyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.40.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of Vaxcyte stock traded up $2.06 on Friday, reaching $58.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,848,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,285. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.17. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $33.62 and a fifty-two week high of $65.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.64 and a beta of 1.22.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.22) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other news, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $935,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 76,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,221,580. This represents a 18.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 3,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.07, for a total transaction of $212,340.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 155,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,468,353.87. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,890 shares of company stock worth $3,683,224. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 72.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 560 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 1,924.4% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 830 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

About Vaxcyte

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.