Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies initiated coverage on Veracyte with a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price target, implying roughly a 44.7% upside from the stock's prior close.
• Veracyte recently posted a quarterly beat with $0.53 EPS vs. $0.41 expected and revenue of $140.6M (up 18.5% year-over-year), signaling strong top-line growth and improving profitability.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed — four Buys, three Holds and one Sell — leaving an average MarketBeat consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.33.

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 44.74% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on VCYT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.33.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT opened at $31.09 on Monday. Veracyte has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $50.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of 37.46 and a beta of 1.96.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.12. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.79 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. Veracyte's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total transaction of $185,099.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 107,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,785,740.20. This trade represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 131,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,741,423.44. This trade represents a 12.27% 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 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,158,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter worth approximately $40,064,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 16.6% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $253,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,692 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 770.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,256,000 after purchasing an additional 794,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter worth approximately $26,348,000.

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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