Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.25.

A number of research firms have recently commented on VCYT. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

Veracyte Price Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $34.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -36.45 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.94. Veracyte has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $35.51.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $114.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.27 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 1.52% and a negative net margin of 13.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $658,715.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,105,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John Leite sold 1,277 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $31,925.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 82,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,074,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $658,715.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,105,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,918 shares of company stock worth $1,399,541 over the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Veracyte by 2,331.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter worth approximately $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the second quarter worth $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at $85,000.

About Veracyte

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.