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

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.8571.

A number of research firms have weighed in on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total transaction of $1,089,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 45,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. This trade represents a 34.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 159.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT stock opened at $59.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 54.40 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Veracyte will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.