Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

PCVX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $140.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Vaxcyte stock opened at $33.69 on Monday. Vaxcyte has a one year low of $30.12 and a one year high of $121.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.32 and a beta of 1.02.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total transaction of $692,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,472,066.41. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total transaction of $531,937.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,170,738 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vaxcyte by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.