Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $25.29 Million Stock Position in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 486.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 308,939 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 256,237 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $25,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 33.5% in 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. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 5.2% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.49, for a total transaction of $457,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 this link. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.49, for a total value of $739,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,024,730.55. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 76,616 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,481. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PCVX. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $127.71.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

PCVX opened at $79.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.33 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.76. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a one year low of $58.10 and a one year high of $121.06.

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.