StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Veracyte from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Raymond James cut Veracyte from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. They set a sector outperform rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $30.20.

Veracyte Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of VCYT opened at $22.43 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.05. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $14.85 and a 1 year high of $32.40.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $80.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.92 million. Veracyte had a negative return on equity of 3.42% and a negative net margin of 12.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Veracyte will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Bonnie H. Anderson sold 34,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.76, for a total transaction of $773,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 53,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,288.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Bonnie H. Anderson sold 63,247 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.13, for a total value of $1,589,397.11. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,582,209.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bonnie H. Anderson sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.76, for a total value of $773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,288.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,247 shares of company stock valued at $3,259,137 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $515,000. CI Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,424,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 172.3% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 55,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 35,317 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth $1,858,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 881.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 105,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,503,000 after acquiring an additional 94,711 shares during the period.

Veracyte Company Profile

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Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.