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

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.13.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VCYT. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Veracyte Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -291.13 and a beta of 1.71. Veracyte has a 12-month low of $18.61 and a 12-month high of $46.00.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total transaction of $41,452.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,746,107.20. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,497 shares in the company, valued at $745,429.10. This trade represents a 35.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,038 shares of company stock valued at $1,008,297 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,916,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $99,278,000 after acquiring an additional 7,920 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,806,000 after acquiring an additional 17,921 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 116.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 833,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,017,000 after acquiring an additional 448,251 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 677,883 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,075,000 after acquiring an additional 113,883 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,279,000.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.