Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

VCYT has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.43.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $56.12 on Tuesday. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.49 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total value of $197,226.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,480.33. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total value of $177,088.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,617,214.40. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,594,000 after purchasing an additional 161,239 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Veracyte by 3.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $107,042,000 after buying an additional 95,664 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Veracyte by 64.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,190,000 after buying an additional 833,543 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,900,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,039,000 after buying an additional 9,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 31.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,078,000 after buying an additional 360,947 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.