Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $60.97 and last traded at $59.3450, with a volume of 1519 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.43.

Veracyte Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.01. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.88 and a beta of 1.98.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Veracyte’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total value of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. 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, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total transaction of $1,089,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,434 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,703.60. The trade was a 34.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter worth approximately $56,000.

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.