Veracyte’s (VCYT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $48.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on VCYT. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.20.

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT stock opened at $32.25 on Wednesday. Veracyte has a twelve month low of $22.61 and a twelve month high of $50.71. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86 and a beta of 1.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.27.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.12. Veracyte had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 12.83%.The firm had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 131,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,741,423.44. This trade represents a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total transaction of $1,637,462.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 357,554 shares in the company, valued at $12,861,217.38. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 75,782 shares of company stock worth $2,722,097 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Veracyte by 23.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 5,435 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 195,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after acquiring an additional 21,330 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 94.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,431,000 after acquiring an additional 105,499 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 15,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Veracyte by 259.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 336,978 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,109,000 after acquiring an additional 243,111 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.