Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 620,085 Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 113.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,164,813 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 620,085 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.81% of Vaxcyte worth $67,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Vaxcyte by 115.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 15,774 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the first quarter worth about $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the first quarter worth approximately $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 13.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $53.68 on Friday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.08 and a 52-week high of $65.00. The stock has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.80 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.93.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.04) EPS. Analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,738,500. The trade was a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total value of $111,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 158,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,848,622.88. This trade represents a 1.40% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,961 shares of company stock valued at $2,233,490. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Vaxcyte 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.