Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Trading Down 4.8% – Should You Sell?

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) shares dropped 4.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $30.35 and last traded at $30.51. Approximately 607,490 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,199,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Down 6.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.49 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.98.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 154,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,351,794.37. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,664.25. The trade was a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,250 shares of company stock worth $3,170,738 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 3rd quarter valued at about $260,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth $92,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter valued at $355,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth $507,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 13.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,786,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,162,000 after purchasing an additional 324,560 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is 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.