Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $45.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

VCYT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Veracyte Stock Up 4.3%

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $32.44 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.30. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $22.61 and a 52 week high of $50.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.96.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 131,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,741,423.44. The trade was a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total transaction of $1,637,462.31. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 357,554 shares in the company, valued at $12,861,217.38. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 75,782 shares of company stock worth $2,722,097 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 197.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,475,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 229.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 7,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,158,000.

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.