Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $50.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of VCYT opened at $35.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -239.60 and a beta of 1.67. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $41.43.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. The trade was a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2,331.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the second quarter valued at about $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $85,000.

About Veracyte

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.