Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 28.48% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Leerink Partners upped 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Veracyte from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.25.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $39.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -253.40 and a beta of 1.67. Veracyte has a one year low of $18.61 and a one year high of $41.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.22 and its 200-day moving average is $27.83.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at $820,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $62,806,000 after buying an additional 17,921 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,261 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 10,223 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 146,402 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,983,000 after acquiring an additional 85,033 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,640,000.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.