Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives $42.60 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.60.

VCYT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Craig Hallum started coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 146,402 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,983,000 after purchasing an additional 85,033 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 16.2% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 3,195 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at $9,498,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Veracyte by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 261,214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,415,000 after buying an additional 11,078 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth about $1,379,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $30.56 on Friday. Veracyte has a 12 month low of $19.73 and a 12 month high of $47.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -203.73 and a beta of 2.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.17.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $118.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.39) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

About Veracyte

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.