Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $51.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 43.54% from the company’s previous close.

VCYT has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $35.53 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.63. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of -236.87 and a beta of 1.71. Veracyte has a fifty-two week low of $18.61 and a fifty-two week high of $47.32.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The firm had revenue of $118.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.39) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Veracyte will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,746,107.20. This trade represents a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,429.10. This represents a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,533 shares of company stock worth $815,584 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Veracyte by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $64,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,774 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Veracyte by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000.

About Veracyte

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.