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

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.7143.

VCYT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $36.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.08 and a beta of 1.91. Veracyte has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $50.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.84.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its 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 return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 12.83%.The company had revenue of $140.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Leite sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.51, for a total value of $60,717.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 82,113 shares in the company, valued at $3,901,188.63. This trade represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 7,668 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.09, for a total value of $361,086.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 318,603 shares in the company, valued at $15,003,015.27. The trade was a 2.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,385 shares of company stock worth $2,483,179 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth about $58,158,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,064,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 20.7% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,321,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $170,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082,064 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 794,307 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte during the third quarter worth approximately $26,348,000.

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.