Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Trading Up 7.8% – Should You Buy?

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) shares were up 7.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $84.27 and last traded at $84.26. Approximately 377,857 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 883,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PCVX. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, 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 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $145.71.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.49. The company has a market capitalization of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of -18.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.91) EPS. Research analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.82, for a total transaction of $1,602,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 435,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,490,093.58. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of Vaxcyte 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 77,982 shares of company stock worth $7,416,345. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Vaxcyte by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 74,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,132,000 after buying an additional 10,243 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter worth about $1,433,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter worth about $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.