Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $45.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 44.69% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

Veracyte Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $31.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -207.33 and a beta of 1.80. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $47.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.68.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.39) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,429.10. This represents a 35.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Veracyte by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,211,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $325,180,000 after acquiring an additional 463,098 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,599,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $261,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,432 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 3,080,027 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $121,969,000 after purchasing an additional 97,824 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Veracyte by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,916,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,278,000 after purchasing an additional 7,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $62,806,000 after buying an additional 17,921 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.