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

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 192.21% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $30.80 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.91. Vaxcyte has a 52-week low of $27.80 and a 52-week high of $121.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.70 and a beta of 1.26.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. Analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total transaction of $531,937.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at $610,664.25. The trade was a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total transaction of $586,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,250 shares of company stock worth $3,170,738 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.