Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wolfe Research

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.57.

Veracyte Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of VCYT opened at $47.80 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $36.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.83. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $50.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.85 and a beta of 1.98.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Veracyte will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,204 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.02, for a total transaction of $398,160.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 143,708 shares in the company, valued at $5,607,486.16. This represents a 6.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $440,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,148.46. The trade was a 16.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 44,204 shares of company stock worth $1,927,860 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in 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 worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 893 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 worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter.

About Veracyte

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.