Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $138.00 to $100.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vaxcyte traded as low as $30.12 and last traded at $37.76, with a volume of 13995362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.46.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Vaxcyte from $140.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Insider Activity

In other Vaxcyte news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total transaction of $531,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte 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 owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,250 shares of company stock worth $3,170,738. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCVX. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,104,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 21,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Vaxcyte by 38.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 408,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,653,000 after buying an additional 112,512 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $489,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the third quarter worth $3,542,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.32 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $76.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.84.

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

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.