Hood River Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 401,442 Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 401,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,862,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Vaxcyte at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PCVX. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Vaxcyte by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,393,000 after buying an additional 1,312,302 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter worth $90,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $979,184,000 after acquiring an additional 521,204 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Vaxcyte by 13.2% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter worth $21,669,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of PCVX stock opened at $31.26 on Wednesday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $121.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.80 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCVX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value 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 approximately $11,351,794.37. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 24,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,946,720 over the last ninety days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.