Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.43.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $43.53 on Friday. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 114.56 and a beta of 1.82. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.72.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $131.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.62 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $616,029.30. The trade was a 59.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.30, for a total transaction of $67,260.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 78,499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,713,002.70. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 134,528 shares of company stock valued at $5,896,433 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,064,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,003,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Veracyte by 20.7% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,321,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,064 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Veracyte by 770.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,256,000 after buying an additional 794,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,348,000.

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.