Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT – Get Rating) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

VCYT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Veracyte from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Bonnie H. Anderson sold 34,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.76, for a total transaction of $773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 53,967 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,288.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Bonnie H. Anderson sold 63,247 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.13, for a total value of $1,589,397.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,582,209.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bonnie H. Anderson sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.76, for a total transaction of $773,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,288.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 131,247 shares of company stock worth $3,259,137. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 21.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 55,320 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,525,000 after buying an additional 9,589 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Veracyte by 48.8% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,959 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Veracyte by 54.5% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 37,950 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 13,393 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Veracyte by 65.4% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 18,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 7,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. acquired a new position in Veracyte during the first quarter worth approximately $10,440,000.

Veracyte Trading Up 1.7 %

VCYT stock opened at $23.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.62 and a beta of 1.44. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $14.85 and a 52 week high of $32.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.02.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $80.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.92 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 12.33% and a negative return on equity of 3.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.15) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

About Veracyte

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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.