Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Needham & Company LLC Analyst Says

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $37.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.25% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.83.

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT opened at $36.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.79 and a beta of 1.67. Veracyte has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $37.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.79.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $114.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.27 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 1.52% and a negative net margin of 13.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 1,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $30,990.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,393,782.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 1,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $30,990.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,393,782.39. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,035,116 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 13.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Veracyte by 2.1% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,462 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Veracyte by 21.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in Veracyte by 6.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 8,198 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Veracyte by 3.7% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.