Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $61.35, but opened at $57.77. Vaxcyte shares last traded at $61.1990, with a volume of 254,111 shares.

The company reported ($1.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.12) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on PCVX shares. Leerink Partners set a $77.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vaxcyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.83.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other news, SVP Elvia Cowan sold 11,623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.92, for a total value of $556,974.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $696,469.28. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 9,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total value of $454,900.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,928 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,198.32. The trade was a 28.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 156.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 1,463.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 148.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of -12.66 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.45.

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.