Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $140.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PCVX. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $147.50.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 0.9 %

Vaxcyte stock opened at $78.65 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.88. Vaxcyte has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $121.06. The company has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.45, for a total value of $1,386,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 450,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,630,327.45. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total transaction of $669,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,208,443.70. The trade was a 3.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,616 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,481. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PCVX. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 33.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

Vaxcyte, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness.