Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.13.

VCYT has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $45,412.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 73,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,192,282.50. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total transaction of $41,452.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares in the company, valued at $1,746,107.20. This trade represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,211 shares of company stock valued at $787,542 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Veracyte by 16.2% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,865 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the third quarter worth $820,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $62,806,000 after buying an additional 17,921 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Veracyte by 20.0% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,261 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,085,000 after buying an additional 10,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 138.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 146,402 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,983,000 after buying an additional 85,033 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of VCYT traded down $1.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.84. The stock had a trading volume of 763,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,942. Veracyte has a fifty-two week low of $18.61 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -285.60 and a beta of 1.69.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The company had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.81 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.