Needham & Company LLC Cuts Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target to $27.00

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $33.00 to $27.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, 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 23.63% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on VCYT. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $21.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of -21.20 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.09 and its 200-day moving average is $23.84. Veracyte has a one year low of $18.61 and a one year high of $30.52.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $96.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.35 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 20.61% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Veracyte’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte will post -0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,156.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Veracyte by 96.2% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Veracyte by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,323 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000.

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.