Brokerages Set Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target at $29.00

Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.00.

Several research firms have commented on VCYT. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Veracyte from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,125 shares in the company, valued at $717,156.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at $9,324,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $11,190,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $9,586,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Veracyte by 38.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 982,328 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,935,000 after buying an additional 270,531 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Veracyte by 7.8% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,179,000 after buying an additional 242,760 shares during the period.

Veracyte Stock Down 0.9 %

VCYT stock opened at $19.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.75 and a beta of 1.62. Veracyte has a fifty-two week low of $18.61 and a fifty-two week high of $30.52.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $98.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.49 million. Veracyte had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 20.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veracyte will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

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.