Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Given Buy Rating at Guggenheim

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $160.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 95.49% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $147.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX traded up $2.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.84. 367,866 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,079,323. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.00. Vaxcyte has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $121.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.86 and a beta of 0.98.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.49, for a total value of $739,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,024,730.55. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,616 shares of company stock worth $6,766,481. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $255,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 472,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,717,000 after buying an additional 64,690 shares during the period. Windsor Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Windsor Advisory Group LLC now owns 39,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 16,479 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,120,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,759,000 after purchasing an additional 16,977 shares during the period. 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.