Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Stock Price Up 6.2% – Here’s What Happened

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)’s share price shot up 6.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $35.10 and last traded at $34.00. 1,599,712 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average session volume of 1,340,419 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Vaxcyte Trading Up 10.3%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of -7.86 and a beta of 1.27.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.02) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.85) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at $11,351,794.37. This represents a 4.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 188.4% in the 4th 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. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.