Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Veracyte shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $50.82 on Thursday after recently closing at $48.17.
• Analyst sentiment has been broadly positive, with recent buy/outperform ratings and price targets raised by Wolfe Research, Needham, and UBS, though the consensus remains Moderate Buy.
• The company posted a strong quarter, beating earnings and revenue expectations with $0.52 EPS and $139.07 million in revenue, while insiders have also been selling shares in recent weeks.

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $50.82 and last traded at $47.6820, with a volume of 679 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. 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 note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.57.

Veracyte Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.82 and a beta of 1.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.25.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (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 previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,308,148.46. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 202,967 shares of company stock worth $9,881,831. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,448,897 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $46,669,000 after purchasing an additional 185,929 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 93,029 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 18,261 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 66.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 573,096 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $18,459,000 after purchasing an additional 228,720 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 6,844.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 69,167 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 68,171 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,113 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,422 shares during the period.

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.

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