Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $14.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 83.61% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.71.

Vaxcyte Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $85.42 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.56. Vaxcyte has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $121.06. The company has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.57 and a beta of 0.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.45, for a total value of $1,386,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 450,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,630,327.45. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.49, for a total value of $739,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,024,730.55. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,616 shares of company stock valued at $6,095,681 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 39,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 11,635 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vaxcyte by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,495,000 after purchasing an additional 102,106 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,869,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,884,000 after purchasing an additional 82,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,779,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,659,000 after purchasing an additional 133,448 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.