Candriam S.C.A. Acquires Shares of 114,110 Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 114,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,341,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 1,007.9% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $71.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.47 and a beta of 1.02. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.10 and a 12-month high of $121.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.51.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total transaction of $531,937.50. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $710,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,720,610.98. The trade was a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,616 shares of company stock worth $4,768,521. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PCVX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Vaxcyte 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.