Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target Raised to $40.00 at Leerink Partners

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Leerink Partners from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Leerink Partners' price target suggests a potential upside of 16.58% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.67.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $34.31. 566,872 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,133. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.55 and a beta of 1.67. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $32.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.32. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $35.51.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $114.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.27 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 13.52% and a positive return on equity of 1.52%. Veracyte's revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Veracyte will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total value of $163,164.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at $2,268,461.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $808,462. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,141 shares of company stock worth $1,180,116 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Veracyte by 2,331.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 168.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at about $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at about $85,000.

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.