Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Piper Sandler cut Veracyte’s price target from $54 to $30 but maintained an “overweight” rating; the new target implies 15.74% upside from the stock’s current price.
• Veracyte beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.51 versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $151.75 million versus $147.13 million expected. Revenue rose 15.1% year over year.
• Analyst opinion is mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $46, based on six Buy, five Hold, and one Sell ratings.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $54.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the biotechnology company's stock. Piper Sandler's price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.74% from the stock's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Veracyte from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Veracyte from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered shares of Veracyte from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $55.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.00.

Veracyte Trading Up 7.3%

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $25.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.98. Veracyte has a twelve month low of $21.91 and a twelve month high of $60.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $43.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.78.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $151.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.13 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 21.80%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, Director Muna Bhanji sold 1,864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.70, for a total transaction of $81,456.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 40,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,319.80. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Leite sold 4,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $160,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,973,160. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 62,609 shares of company stock worth $2,858,904 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,511 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Veracyte by 178.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 845 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in Veracyte by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 52,765 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,429,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company that develops tests to help clinicians diagnose disease and guide treatment decisions, with a focus on cancer and other complex conditions. Its tests analyze biological samples to provide information that can help distinguish between conditions and assess disease risk.

The company's portfolio includes Afirma for thyroid nodule assessment, Decipher for prostate cancer, Prosigna for breast cancer, and Percepta for lung cancer. Veracyte also offers Envisia, a genomic test that supports the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other forms of interstitial lung disease.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, Veracyte serves clinicians and patients in the United States and makes certain products available in international markets.

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