Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target Raised to $46.00

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $43.00 to $46.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.71.

Veracyte Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of VCYT opened at $36.48 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.27 and a 200 day moving average of $27.03. Veracyte has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $41.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -243.20 and a beta of 1.67.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Veracyte will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $182,244.79. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total value of $163,164.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,109 shares of company stock worth $1,004,125 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $12,279,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Veracyte by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,697,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,779,000 after buying an additional 509,340 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 67.4% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,241,671 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,907,000 after buying an additional 500,020 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its position in Veracyte by 46.3% during the first quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,115,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,726,000 after acquiring an additional 353,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 288.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 360,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,284,000 after acquiring an additional 268,000 shares in the last quarter.

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.