Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Trading 8.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)’s share price shot up 8.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $58.20 and last traded at $57.8850. 1,895,479 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 43% from the average session volume of 1,325,360 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCVX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, January 9th. Leerink Partners set a $77.00 price target on Vaxcyte and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.83.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.86. The company has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.86 and a beta of 1.33.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($0.29). During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.83) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vaxcyte news, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 9,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total transaction of $454,900.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,928 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,198.32. The trade was a 28.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Elvia Cowan sold 11,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.92, for a total value of $556,974.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,469.28. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 148.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Vaxcyte during the third quarter worth $45,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Vaxcyte by 22,500.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 197.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at $72,000. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a new generation of preventive vaccines aimed at combating serious bacterial diseases. Headquartered in San Carlos, California, Vaxcyte leverages proprietary conjugation technologies to design and manufacture multivalent vaccines targeting pathogens for which there remain significant unmet medical needs. The company’s platform is intended to streamline the production of conjugate vaccines by improving antigen presentation and broadening strain coverage compared with conventional approaches.

Vaxcyte’s lead candidate, VAX-24, is a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine designed to protect against 24 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae.