Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Shares Down 10% – What’s Next?

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) were down 10% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $29.58 and last traded at $29.25. Approximately 2,645,742 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 133% from the average daily volume of 1,137,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PCVX. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $73.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.87.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,250 shares of company stock worth $3,170,738 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at $489,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,405,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,174,000 after purchasing an additional 38,596 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC bought a new position in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth $343,000. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at about $1,559,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

About Vaxcyte

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.