Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Shares Down 4.8% – Time to Sell?

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) shares were down 4.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $30.35 and last traded at $30.51. Approximately 607,490 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,199,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PCVX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of -6.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,638,800. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PCVX. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 203.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.