Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target Cut to $40.00 by Analysts at Stephens

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Stephens from $55.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Stephens‘s price target points to a potential upside of 66.25% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on VCYT. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered 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. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Veracyte from $69.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Veracyte from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $55.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Veracyte Trading Down 7.2%

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $24.06 on Wednesday. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $21.91 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 1.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.68.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.10. Veracyte had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 21.80%. The company had revenue of $151.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Leite sold 4,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $160,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,973,160. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Muna Bhanji sold 1,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.70, for a total value of $81,456.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,785,319.80. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,858,904. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter worth $34,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc. is a genomic diagnostics company that develops tests to help clinicians diagnose disease and guide treatment decisions, with a focus on cancer and other complex conditions. Its tests analyze biological samples to provide information that can help distinguish between conditions and assess disease risk. The company’s portfolio includes Afirma for thyroid nodule assessment, Decipher for prostate cancer, Prosigna for breast cancer, and Percepta for lung cancer. Veracyte also offers Envisia, a genomic test that supports the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other forms of interstitial lung disease.