Trade Alert: Senior Vice President of Finance Of Vaxcyte Elvia Cowan Has Sold Stock

Some Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Senior Vice President of Finance, Elvia Cowan, recently sold a substantial US$557k worth of stock at a price of US$47.92 per share. That diminished their holding by a very significant 84%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.

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Vaxcyte Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Elvia Cowan was the biggest sale of Vaxcyte shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$46.14. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

View our latest analysis for Vaxcyte

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Does Vaxcyte Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Vaxcyte insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$45m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Vaxcyte Insiders?

An insider sold Vaxcyte shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Vaxcyte.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.