Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Raised to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Vaxcyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Vaxcyte stock opened at $58.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.61 and a beta of 1.23. Vaxcyte has a 52-week low of $29.29 and a 52-week high of $65.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.27.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.22) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total value of $111,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 158,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,848,622.88. This trade represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 17,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $935,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 76,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,221,580. This represents a 18.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 120,646 shares of company stock valued at $6,570,810 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 115.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 15,774 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 513,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,409,000 after purchasing an additional 41,034 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.