Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.43.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of VCYT opened at $56.62 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $22.61 and a 52 week high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total transaction of $1,089,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,703.60. The trade was a 34.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 159.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 146.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.