Brokerages Set Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Target Price at $41.13

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.13.

Several brokerages have weighed in on VCYT. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $45,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 73,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,192,282.50. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total value of $302,610.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,929,819.51. The trade was a 5.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,038 shares of company stock worth $605,297 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,279,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 67.4% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,241,671 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,907,000 after purchasing an additional 500,020 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte in the third quarter worth about $9,498,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 288.6% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 360,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,284,000 after buying an additional 268,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Veracyte by 276.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 301,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,268,000 after buying an additional 221,504 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Stock Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $41.91 on Monday. Veracyte has a fifty-two week low of $18.61 and a fifty-two week high of $46.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.91 and a 200-day moving average of $32.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -279.40 and a beta of 1.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $115.86 million for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.