Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.7778.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VCYT. Weiss Ratings raised Veracyte from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th.

Veracyte Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.70 and a 200-day moving average of $43.61. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $29.45 and a 52-week high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.The company had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. Veracyte’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Veracyte will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider Phillip G. Febbo sold 13,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total value of $564,385.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $5,727,716.40. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,254 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $140,214.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,651,684.40. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their position. 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 30,895 shares of company stock worth $1,307,448 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 21.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 178.0% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes genomic tests designed to help physicians diagnose cancer, assess disease risk and guide treatment decisions. The company combines genomic data with bioinformatics and machine-learning technologies to provide clinically actionable information from patient tissue samples.

Veracyte’s portfolio includes Afirma tests for evaluating thyroid nodules, Decipher tests for assessing the risk and biological characteristics of prostate cancer, and Prosigna for classifying and evaluating recurrence risk in certain breast cancers.