Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Now Covered by Wolfe Research

Equities research analysts at Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock. Wolfe Research's target price points to a potential upside of 39.12% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.00.

Veracyte Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT traded down $1.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,626,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,503. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.50. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $41.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -239.60 and a beta of 1.67.

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

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $182,244.79. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. The trade was a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,640,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter worth $1,123,000. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at about $6,010,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 276.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 301,652 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $10,268,000 after acquiring an additional 221,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Fund Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Veracyte by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter.

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.