Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

VCYT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.57.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $60.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.50 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.82. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $60.83.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.76, for a total value of $158,037.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,240 shares in the company, valued at $6,829,062.40. This trade represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,324,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,486,000 after purchasing an additional 253,033 shares in the last quarter. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,376,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,650,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 54.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 518,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $17,812,000 after buying an additional 181,872 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 5.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,504,088 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $291,945,000 after buying an additional 403,737 shares during the period.

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.