Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives $27.50 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.50.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $33.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT stock opened at $21.78 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.94. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $30.52. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of -23.17 and a beta of 1.65.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.17. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 18.16% and a negative return on equity of 1.42%. The business had revenue of $96.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Veracyte will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,156.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Veracyte by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,655,603 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $210,606,000 after buying an additional 62,011 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,649,000 after buying an additional 266,660 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Veracyte by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,372,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $92,787,000 after buying an additional 161,073 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,179,000 after buying an additional 242,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,012,000 after buying an additional 242,760 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.