Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target Raised to $40.00 at Leerink Partners

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its price target lifted by Leerink Partners from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.67.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $34.44 on Thursday. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $35.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.64 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.54.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $182,244.79. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total value of $163,164.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 37,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,180,116 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Veracyte by 2,331.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter worth approximately $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter worth $85,000.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.