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

HighVista Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 159.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,802 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,345 shares during the quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC owned about 0.07% of Vaxcyte worth $3,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PCVX. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 115.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 15,774 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter worth $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter worth $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 513,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,409,000 after buying an additional 41,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 31,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 7,395 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total value of $435,417.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 166,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,822,243.84. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Elvia Cowan sold 11,623 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.92, for a total value of $556,974.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,469.28. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,261 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,767. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of Vaxcyte stock opened at $54.58 on Monday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $76.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.08 and a 200-day moving average of $46.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.71 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PCVX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $77.00 price objective on Vaxcyte and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.