Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

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

Vaxcyte Stock Up 0.7 %

PCVX opened at $91.05 on Thursday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.83 and a 12-month high of $121.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.51 and a 200-day moving average of $91.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.91) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 7,098 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.21, for a total transaction of $775,172.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,134,431.01. This represents a 4.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.94, for a total value of $927,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,383 shares in the company, valued at $10,479,005.02. The trade was a 8.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 117,830 shares of company stock valued at $12,600,310. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PCVX. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $108.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Vaxcyte from $101.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $106.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $147.50.

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.