Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

PCVX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Vaxcyte from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, July 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $56.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.25 and a beta of 1.22. Vaxcyte has a 12-month low of $29.08 and a 12-month high of $65.00.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.04) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total value of $111,420.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 158,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,848,622.88. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 22,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $1,179,202.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 474,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,921,907.50. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 75,448 shares of company stock worth $4,091,197 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 115.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 15,774 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter valued at about $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Vaxcyte by 8.7% in 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 during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.