Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.43.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $56.62 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.63 and its 200-day moving average is $41.05. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $60.91. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Veracyte will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 52,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,148.46. The trade was a 16.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 a total of 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,376,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Veracyte by 54.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 518,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,812,000 after acquiring an additional 181,872 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in Veracyte by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 489,418 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,604,000 after acquiring an additional 79,817 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Veracyte by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 790,425 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,277,000 after acquiring an additional 112,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $5,475,000.

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.