Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $28.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Veracyte traded as low as $19.40 and last traded at $19.46, with a volume of 313919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.00.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $216,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,156.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the first quarter valued at $33,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at $38,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 96.2% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 533.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,146 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of -18.81 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.06.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $98.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.49 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 20.61% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post -0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.