Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.4286.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VCYT shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research raised Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, December 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total value of $909,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $616,029.30. This trade represents a 59.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 13,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $621,941.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,128,792.64. This represents a 10.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 134,528 shares of company stock worth $5,896,433 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at about $40,064,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 1st quarter valued at $33,003,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 20.7% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,321,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,878,000 after buying an additional 1,082,064 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 770.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,256,000 after purchasing an additional 794,307 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth $26,348,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $42.84 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.60. Veracyte has a 12 month low of $22.61 and a 12 month high of $50.71. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 112.74 and a beta of 1.82.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.19. Veracyte had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.12%.The company had revenue of $131.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.