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

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.25.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim began coverage on Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total transaction of $41,452.16. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $45,412.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 73,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,192,282.50. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock valued at $787,542 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2,331.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at $85,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $44.09 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.47. Veracyte has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $44.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -293.93 and a beta of 1.69.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.