Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Veracyte has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from nine brokerages, with an average 1-year price target of about $50.43.
• The company’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, posting $0.52 EPS versus the $0.34 estimate and $139.07 million in revenue, up 21.5% year over year.
• Insider activity has been notable, with both a director and the CEO selling shares recently; over the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,696 shares worth about $10.08 million.

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.4286.

VCYT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,148.46. The trade was a 16.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total value of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Veracyte by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,324,965 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,486,000 after buying an additional 253,033 shares during the period. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,376,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,650,000. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 17.5% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,465,775 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $153,310,000 after acquiring an additional 665,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 54.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 518,850 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $17,812,000 after acquiring an additional 181,872 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Stock Down 4.6%

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $57.08 on Friday. Veracyte has a 12-month low of $22.61 and a 12-month high of $60.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $45.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.37 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The business had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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