Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

VCYT has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.43.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $42.49 on Friday. Veracyte has a 12-month low of $22.61 and a 12-month high of $50.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.82 and a beta of 1.82.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.19. Veracyte had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.12%.The firm had revenue of $131.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 1,278 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.51, for a total value of $60,717.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 82,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,901,188.63. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $616,029.30. The trade was a 59.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 142,984 shares of company stock valued at $6,282,692 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 178.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 37,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 23,785 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 1,279.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 7,449 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Veracyte in the 1st quarter valued at about $848,000. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Veracyte by 79.7% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 41,452 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 18,386 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 70.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 830,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $22,438,000 after purchasing an additional 342,038 shares in the last quarter.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.