Vaxcyte Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 31,587 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,385% compared to the average daily volume of 1,271 put options.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Vaxcyte stock opened at $57.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.42 and a 200 day moving average of $53.20. Vaxcyte has a 12 month low of $29.08 and a 12 month high of $65.00. The firm has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of -8.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.04) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,500. The trade was a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $530,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,532,935. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,198 shares of company stock worth $3,571,655. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,565,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,373,000 after acquiring an additional 366,266 shares in the last quarter. Pivotal bioVenture Partners Investment Advisor LLC raised its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 5.2% during the third quarter. Pivotal bioVenture Partners Investment Advisor LLC now owns 1,372,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,435,000 after acquiring an additional 67,300 shares in the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 159.4% in the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 86,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after purchasing an additional 53,345 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 127.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 24,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 13,617 shares during the period. Finally, Perbak Capital Partners LLP raised its position in Vaxcyte by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP now owns 40,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 14,512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on PCVX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vaxcyte from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

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.