Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.25.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VCYT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $33.63 on Tuesday. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $33.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.78 and a beta of 1.66.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $114.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.27 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 13.52% and a positive return on equity of 1.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $658,715.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,105,844.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $658,715.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,105,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,268,461.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,745 shares of company stock worth $1,217,296 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Veracyte by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 698,418 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,213,000 after purchasing an additional 14,066 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,372,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $92,787,000 after buying an additional 161,073 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 51,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 6,565 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at $11,190,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 63,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,696 shares during the period.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.