Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Given Buy Rating at BTIG Research

by · The Markets Daily

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at BTIG Research in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $89.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.56% from the company’s previous close.

PCVX has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research upgraded Vaxcyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Vaxcyte from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Vaxcyte from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $133.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

View Our Latest Research Report on PCVX

Vaxcyte Trading Up 30.7%

Shares of PCVX traded up $17.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $73.82. The company had a trading volume of 14,879,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,754. Vaxcyte has a 12-month low of $39.87 and a 12-month high of $90.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.18. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.67 and a beta of 1.23.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.22) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 16,198 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.63, for a total value of $901,094.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 453,247 shares in the company, valued at $25,214,130.61. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 17,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $935,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 76,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,221,580. The trade was a 18.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 55,890 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,189 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Light Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 345,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,064,000 after buying an additional 203,373 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,906,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 72.8% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 4.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after buying an additional 1,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Vaxcyte during the second quarter valued at $280,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Vaxcyte News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vaxcyte this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: VAX-31 met all prespecified primary endpoints across the age groups studied, demonstrating immune responses comparable to Prevnar 20 and/or Capvaxive. The candidate also provided broader serotype coverage, supporting its potential differentiation in the adult pneumococcal vaccine market. Vaxcyte Reports Positive Topline Data from OPUS-1
  • Positive Sentiment: The successful late-stage results improve the prospects that VAX-31 could capture meaningful share of an estimated $3 billion to $6 billion or larger adult pneumococcal vaccine market. Vaxcyte shares surge on late-stage vaccine trial success
  • Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment strengthened: BTIG reaffirmed its buy rating with an $89 price target, while Needham raised its target to $122 from $110 and maintained a buy rating. These targets reflect increased confidence in Vaxcyte’s commercial potential. Vaxcyte price target update
  • Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high call-option activity indicated strong speculative interest following the trial announcement, but options activity does not directly change the company’s fundamentals.
  • Negative Sentiment: Vaxcyte announced proposed offerings totaling $500 million of common stock and pre-funded warrants plus $500 million of convertible senior notes due 2032, with potential additional purchases by underwriters. The capital could support VAX-31 development and commercialization, but the equity offering may dilute existing shareholders and the convertible debt adds financing risk. The offerings are subject to market conditions and may not be completed. Vaxcyte Announces Proposed Public Offerings

About Vaxcyte

(Get Free Report)

Vaxcyte, Inc (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing vaccines to help prevent serious bacterial infections. The company uses its cell-free protein synthesis and advanced conjugation technologies to design vaccines intended to provide broad and durable protection while addressing limitations of existing vaccine products.

Vaxcyte’s lead programs are pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidates, including VAX-24 and VAX-31, which are designed to target a broad range of pneumococcal serotypes.

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