Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $44.00 to $51.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Veracyte traded as high as $46.18 and last traded at $46.56, with a volume of 42960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.44.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 5,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $215,822.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,804.57. This trade represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total value of $302,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 114,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,929,819.51. This trade represents a 5.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,038 shares of company stock valued at $1,008,297. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Veracyte by 4.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,629 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,221,000 after purchasing an additional 6,025 shares during the period. AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter worth about $347,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Veracyte by 5.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 42,766 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Veracyte by 133.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,309 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 11,606 shares during the period.

Veracyte Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.13 and a 200 day moving average of $35.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -309.29 and a beta of 1.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $115.86 million during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.03) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current 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.