Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to Strong-Buy Rating

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was upgraded by research analysts at Piper Sandler to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

VCYT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.88.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $59.51 on Wednesday. Veracyte has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $60.91. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.60 and a beta of 1.93. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.17.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced 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. 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Veracyte will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,204 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.02, for a total transaction of $398,160.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 143,708 shares in the company, valued at $5,607,486.16. This trade represents a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 146.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in the last quarter.

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.