Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Stock Price

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $140.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 167.14% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $33.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of -7.32 and a beta of 1.02. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $30.12 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.84.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, equities analysts expect that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,170,738 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at $1,433,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,962 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 413,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,860,000 after purchasing an additional 144,516 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 186.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,022,000 after purchasing an additional 34,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 593,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,418,000 after buying an additional 246,049 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.