Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Research analysts at Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $57.00 price objective on Veracyte and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.57.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock traded up $0.12 on Tuesday, reaching $46.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,527,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,158,404. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.83. Veracyte has a fifty-two week low of $22.61 and a fifty-two week high of $50.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.00 and a beta of 1.89.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Veracyte’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 131,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,741,423.44. This represents a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total value of $1,089,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 45,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. This represents a 34.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 119,986 shares of company stock worth $4,649,957. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Veracyte by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,504,088 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $291,945,000 after purchasing an additional 403,737 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $253,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,692 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,465,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $153,310,000 after buying an additional 665,686 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $183,594,000 after buying an additional 161,239 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 3.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $107,042,000 after buying an additional 95,664 shares during the last quarter.

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.