Insider Selling: Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) COO Sells $586,160.00 in Stock

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at $11,351,794.37. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Jim Wassil also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 3rd, Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total value of $689,760.00.
• On Thursday, January 2nd, Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total value of $669,280.00.

Vaxcyte Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $73.89 on Thursday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.10 and a 52-week high of $121.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.70. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.06 and a beta of 1.02.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PCVX. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $147.50.

About Vaxcyte

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.