Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Stock Price Down 3.8% – Here’s What Happened

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)’s share price fell 3.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $47.43 and last traded at $46.95. 910,403 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 1,383,667 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PCVX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Vaxcyte from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.76 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.35.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.04) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 7,395 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,822,243.84. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,037 shares of company stock valued at $994,899. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCVX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vaxcyte by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 2.9% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 31,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.