Veracyte’s (VCYT) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $51.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VCYT. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Veracyte Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $33.84 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.61. Veracyte has a 12-month low of $18.61 and a 12-month high of $47.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -225.60 and a beta of 1.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The company had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.39) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,429.10. This trade represents a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total value of $302,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,037 shares in the company, valued at $4,929,819.51. This trade represents a 5.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,533 shares of company stock valued at $815,584 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Veracyte by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Veracyte by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,774 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 13.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.