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

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) hit a new 52-week high 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.44.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 5.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,038 shares of company stock valued at $1,008,297 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $554,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 20.2% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 677,883 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,075,000 after purchasing an additional 113,883 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $574,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $723,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $820,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.21. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -309.29 and a beta of 1.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The company had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

About Veracyte

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.