Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Earns “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at Guggenheim in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 31.52% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT traded down $5.14 on Tuesday, hitting $34.22. The stock had a trading volume of 832,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 791,749. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -227.90 and a beta of 1.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.60. Veracyte has a twelve month low of $18.61 and a twelve month high of $47.32.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.39) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,497 shares in the company, valued at $745,429.10. The trade was a 35.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of Veracyte 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 114,037 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,565 shares of company stock valued at $1,031,406. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,211,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $325,180,000 after acquiring an additional 463,098 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Veracyte by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,599,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $261,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,432 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 3,080,027 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $121,969,000 after acquiring an additional 97,824 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Veracyte by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,916,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $99,278,000 after buying an additional 7,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Veracyte by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,806,000 after purchasing an additional 17,921 shares during the period.

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.