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

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $14.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on PCVX. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $127.71.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $83.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $86.67 and its 200 day moving average is $94.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a PE ratio of -18.23 and a beta of 0.98. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $58.10 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In related news, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 5,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.49, for a total value of $457,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,697 shares in the company, valued at $2,625,488.53. The trade was a 14.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.45, for a total value of $1,386,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 450,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,630,327.45. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,616 shares of company stock worth $6,095,681 over the last three months. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Vaxcyte by 23.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,921,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,954,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,989 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter worth about $90,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vaxcyte by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,184,000 after purchasing an additional 521,204 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Vaxcyte by 5.9% in the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,689,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $992,914,000 after purchasing an additional 485,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vaxcyte by 47.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,075,000 after purchasing an additional 419,600 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.