Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Shares Up 6.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) rose 6.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $45.49 and last traded at $46.6530. Approximately 99,915 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,113,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCYT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.78.

Veracyte Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.68.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.95, for a total transaction of $204,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,124,937.45. This trade represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Phillip Febbo sold 13,110 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total transaction of $564,385.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,727,716.40. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,895 shares of company stock valued at $1,307,448. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Veracyte by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 178.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 845 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,000.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes genomic tests designed to help physicians diagnose cancer, assess disease risk and guide treatment decisions. The company combines genomic data with bioinformatics and machine-learning technologies to provide clinically actionable information from patient tissue samples.

Veracyte’s portfolio includes Afirma tests for evaluating thyroid nodules, Decipher tests for assessing the risk and biological characteristics of prostate cancer, and Prosigna for classifying and evaluating recurrence risk in certain breast cancers.