Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

VCYT has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.78.

Veracyte Stock Down 2.8%

Veracyte stock opened at $40.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.34. Veracyte has a twelve month low of $29.45 and a twelve month high of $60.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99 and a beta of 1.93.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total value of $157,401.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 166,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,155,677.50. This trade represents a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $140,214.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,651,684.40. This represents a 2.42% 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 25,609 shares of company stock valued at $1,139,324 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 289.9% in the second 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000.

About Veracyte

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.