Guggenheim Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Guggenheim in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $116.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 108.15% from the stock’s current price.

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

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $55.73 on Monday. Vaxcyte has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $91.77. The stock has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.51 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.14.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by ($0.29). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.83) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 9,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total value of $454,900.67. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,928 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,198.32. This trade represents a 28.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Elvia Cowan sold 11,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,469.28. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position 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 in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 197.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the third quarter worth approximately $72,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.