Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.50.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $33.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 2,500 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.97, for a total transaction of $52,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,631.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Veracyte news, Director Muna Bhanji sold 3,870 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.32, for a total transaction of $78,638.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,493.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 2,500 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.97, for a total transaction of $52,425.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,631.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,909 shares of company stock valued at $163,382. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,697,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,779,000 after acquiring an additional 509,340 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at $11,190,000. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 46.3% in the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,115,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,726,000 after purchasing an additional 353,000 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at $9,586,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 982,328 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,935,000 after purchasing an additional 270,531 shares during the period.

Veracyte Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $21.47 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.09. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $30.52. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.84 and a beta of 1.65.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.17. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 18.16% and a negative return on equity of 1.42%. The firm had revenue of $96.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.