Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VCYT. Guggenheim increased their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.86.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT traded down $2.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.97. The stock had a trading volume of 757,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,347,420. Veracyte has a 1-year low of $22.61 and a 1-year high of $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.27 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.86.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Veracyte will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $440,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,148.46. This represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This represents 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 146.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in 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.