Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler upgraded Veracyte to “strong-buy,” adding to a generally positive analyst backdrop. The stock now has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $55.88.
• Veracyte recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting EPS of $0.52 versus the $0.34 estimate and revenue of $139.07 million, up 21.5% year over year.
• The shares were trading near their 52-week high at $59.51, while insiders have also been selling stock, including CEO Marc Stapley and CFO Rebecca Chambers under pre-arranged trading plans.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.88.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $59.51 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $50.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.60 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $60.91.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total value of $177,088.53. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,617,214.40. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were 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 owned 440,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This trade represents 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 valued at $10,079,058 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Veracyte by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $183,594,000 after purchasing an additional 161,239 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 3.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $107,042,000 after purchasing an additional 95,664 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Veracyte by 64.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $68,190,000 after acquiring an additional 833,543 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,900,882 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $80,039,000 after purchasing an additional 9,429 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Veracyte by 31.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $41,078,000 after buying an additional 360,947 shares during the period.

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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