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

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.1429.

Several analysts have recently commented on VCYT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price 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.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $38.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.42 and a beta of 1.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.49. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $131.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.62 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 43,196 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $1,946,411.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,372,888.08. The trade was a 58.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $463,173.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 67,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,488.80. This represents a 13.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 134,635 shares of company stock worth $5,981,961 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 34.8% during the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 409,601 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,062,000 after purchasing an additional 105,721 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 178.4% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 37,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 23,785 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 1,279.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 7,449 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at $839,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 148.8% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,065 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 13,196 shares during 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.