Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Shares Acquired by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 32.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 127,771 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,118 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $10,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte during the third quarter worth $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total transaction of $692,080.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,472,066.41. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 46,250 shares of company stock worth $3,840,018. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $69.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.10 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.68. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a one year low of $58.10 and a one year high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. Equities analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

About Vaxcyte

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.