Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $48.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 49.02% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on VCYT. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.20.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $32.21 on Wednesday. Veracyte has a 52 week low of $22.61 and a 52 week high of $50.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.81 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.35.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. Veracyte had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 12.83%.The company had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total value of $185,099.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,740.20. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 6,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.55, for a total transaction of $236,691.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 94,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,366,798.30. The trade was a 6.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,782 shares of company stock worth $2,722,097. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter worth $31,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Veracyte by 159.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 289.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.