Ellsworth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,060 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 6,390 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 152,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,680,000 after buying an additional 6,891 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 58.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 23,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 8,743 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 50,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 3,852 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.89, for a total transaction of $167,136.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,286 shares in the company, valued at $9,665,662.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.89, for a total value of $167,136.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,286 shares in the company, valued at $9,665,662.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.02, for a total value of $552,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 95,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,603,764.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,860 shares of company stock worth $8,720,633 over the last quarter. 3.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PCVX. Bank of America raised their price target on Vaxcyte from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, January 12th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Vaxcyte in a report on Thursday, December 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Vaxcyte from $73.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.50.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Vaxcyte stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $68.31. 731,552 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 877,978. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.49. The company has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 0.91. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.11 and a 12-month high of $82.04.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($1.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by ($0.93). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.73) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.