HighVista Strategies LLC Purchases 53,345 Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

HighVista Strategies LLC raised its position in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 159.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 86,802 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,345 shares during the quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $3,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 148.6% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 45,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 27,143 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 67,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 12,138 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 127.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 24,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 13,617 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in Vaxcyte by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 128,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,637,000 after purchasing an additional 25,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its position in Vaxcyte by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 172,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 22,570 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $54.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.71 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.01. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $76.61.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.12) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 7,395 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total transaction of $435,417.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,822,243.84. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.59, for a total transaction of $146,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 30,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,808,497.53. This trade represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,261 shares of company stock worth $1,593,767. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PCVX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Leerink Partners set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.50.

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.