Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Trading Down 5.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) fell 5.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $80.57 and last traded at $80.79. 475,390 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 916,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCVX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $98.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $106.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.71.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.59 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.35 and a 200-day moving average of $92.53.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.91) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 42,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.39, for a total transaction of $4,846,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,429,294.37. The trade was a 31.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.49, for a total transaction of $457,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,625,488.53. This represents a 14.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 117,830 shares of company stock valued at $12,383,030 in the last three months. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after buying an additional 8,685 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 61.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 22,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,594,000 after purchasing an additional 8,606 shares in the last quarter. Tri Locum Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,559,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,053,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 32,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,715,000 after buying an additional 13,175 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness.