Canaccord Genuity Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Canaccord Genuity Group from $42.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.43.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $57.48 on Tuesday. Veracyte has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $60.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.73 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,617,214.40. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $699,728.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 132,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Veracyte by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 32,506 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,448,897 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,669,000 after acquiring an additional 185,929 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 24.4% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 93,029 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,996,000 after acquiring an additional 18,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 66.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 573,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,459,000 after acquiring an additional 228,720 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.