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

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,771 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,118 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Vaxcyte worth $10,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PCVX. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the third quarter worth about $92,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PCVX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $147.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,250 shares of company stock worth $3,840,018 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $69.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of -15.10 and a beta of 1.02. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.10 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.68.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. Research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

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.