Analysts Set Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) PT at $54.33

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given 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 analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.3333.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VCYT. Wolfe Research started coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $699,728.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 132,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 162,492 shares of company stock worth $8,151,197 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $41.47 on Friday. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.67. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41 and a beta of 1.95.

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

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.