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

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.4286.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VCYT. Wall Street Zen lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock.

Veracyte Trading Down 4.6%

VCYT stock opened at $57.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.24. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 52.37 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $440,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,148.46. The trade was a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in Veracyte by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 44,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter.

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.