Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Short Interest Update

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,550,000 shares, a decrease of 14.1% from the November 30th total of 2,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 782,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VCYT. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.13.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total value of $41,452.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares in the company, valued at $1,746,107.20. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $45,412.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 73,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,192,282.50. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,038 shares of company stock valued at $605,297 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter worth approximately $9,498,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,195 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $820,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Veracyte by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,806,000 after acquiring an additional 17,921 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Veracyte by 20.0% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,261 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 10,223 shares during the period.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $40.12 on Friday. Veracyte has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $46.00. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -267.47 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Veracyte will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.