Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $52.45 and last traded at $50.92, with a volume of 1769979 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on VCYT. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.57.

Veracyte Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.37.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,148.46. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 202,967 shares of company stock valued at $9,881,831. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,448,897 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,669,000 after purchasing an additional 185,929 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Veracyte by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 93,029 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 18,261 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Veracyte by 66.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 573,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,459,000 after buying an additional 228,720 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 6,844.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 69,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after buying an additional 68,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 25.0% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,113 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 3,422 shares during the period.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.