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

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.1429.

Several equities research analysts have commented on VCYT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Veracyte Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $38.16 on Tuesday. Veracyte has a 12-month low of $22.61 and a 12-month high of $50.71. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 100.42 and a beta of 1.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.49.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $463,173.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 67,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 134,635 shares of company stock worth $5,981,961. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at $40,064,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 20.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,082,064 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position 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 worth $24,256,000 after purchasing an additional 794,307 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,348,000. Finally, Soleus Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter worth approximately $19,338,000.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.