The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)

The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock.

PCVX has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $101.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $113.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $106.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on Vaxcyte from $98.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Vaxcyte has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $145.71.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $86.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of -18.81 and a beta of 0.94. Vaxcyte has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $121.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $98.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.13.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total transaction of $546,350.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,127,635.21. This trade represents a 14.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $710,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,720,610.98. The trade was a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 117,830 shares of company stock worth $12,383,030 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 186.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,022,000 after buying an additional 34,287 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 26.9% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 312,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,701,000 after acquiring an additional 66,183 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 13.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,786,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,162,000 after buying an additional 324,560 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 3rd quarter valued at about $507,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $355,000. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.