Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Receives Buy Rating from Guggenheim

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $160.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 115.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $74.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.13 and a beta of 0.98. Vaxcyte has a one year low of $58.10 and a one year high of $121.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.74.

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, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total transaction of $669,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,208,443.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,616 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,481 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

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