Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $147.50.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PCVX. Mizuho upped their price target on Vaxcyte from $113.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $108.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $106.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $101.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.80, for a total transaction of $854,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 205,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,968,226. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.89, for a total value of $245,803.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,274,278.22. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 102,464 shares of company stock valued at $11,455,576. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Vaxcyte during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 649.4% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 607 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $88.54 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $107.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.25 and a beta of 1.01. Vaxcyte has a 1 year low of $48.24 and a 1 year high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.91) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.