Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target Cut to $44.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 1.90% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on VCYT. UBS Group boosted their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Piper Sandler set a $54.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.25.

Veracyte Price Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $44.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 1.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.72 and a 200-day moving average of $42.33. Veracyte has a one year low of $23.35 and a one year high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.The business had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $197,226.81. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,480.33. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders have sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Veracyte by 159.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Veracyte by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 893 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.