Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,354,631 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 1,068,534 shares.The stock last traded at $33.09 and had previously closed at $32.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCVX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $140.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.00 and a 200-day moving average of $91.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.20 and a beta of 1.02.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total value of $669,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 205,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,208,443.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,250 shares of company stock worth $3,840,018. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,921,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,954,000 after buying an additional 2,052,989 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Vaxcyte by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312,302 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter worth about $90,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $979,184,000 after buying an additional 521,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 1,422,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,469,000 after purchasing an additional 518,255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.