Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

VCYT has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Zacks Research cut Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.78.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of VCYT opened at $44.02 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 1.95. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $29.45 and a 52 week high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other news, insider John Leite sold 4,015 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $160,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 124,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,973,160. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Phillip Febbo sold 13,110 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total transaction of $564,385.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,727,716.40. This trade represents a 8.97% 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 sold 30,895 shares of company stock worth $1,307,448 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Veracyte by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Veracyte by 197.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,719 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a diagnostic company that develops and commercializes genomic tests designed to help physicians diagnose cancer, assess disease risk and guide treatment decisions. Its tests analyze genetic information from patient samples and are intended to provide more precise answers than traditional diagnostic methods alone.

The company’s portfolio includes Afirma genomic tests for thyroid nodules, Decipher tests for prostate cancer, Percepta tests for lung cancer and Envisio tests that support the evaluation of certain lung nodules.