Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 34,287 Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 186.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,702 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,287 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $6,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Vaxcyte by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Vaxcyte during the 2nd quarter valued at $70,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 1,007.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth $92,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of PCVX opened at $81.86 on Thursday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.83 and a 1-year high of $121.06. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.80 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.90.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.91) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.80, for a total transaction of $854,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at $21,968,226. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 5,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $546,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,127,635.21. This represents a 14.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 117,830 shares of company stock worth $12,383,030. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCVX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $101.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Vaxcyte from $113.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Vaxcyte has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.71.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.