Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.67.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 1,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $30,990.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,393,782.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 1,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $30,990.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,393,782.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,141 shares of company stock worth $1,180,116 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Veracyte by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,649,000 after buying an additional 266,660 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Veracyte by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,179,000 after buying an additional 242,760 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in Veracyte by 46.3% in the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,115,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,726,000 after buying an additional 353,000 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Veracyte by 232.3% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 272,176 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,050,000 after buying an additional 190,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Veracyte by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 142,604 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after buying an additional 24,945 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $32.60 on Wednesday. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $35.51. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -34.68 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.72.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 13.52% and a positive return on equity of 1.52%. The firm had revenue of $114.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.