Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Leerink Partners

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

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

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT stock opened at $34.31 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.50 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.39. Veracyte has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $35.51.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,878 shares in the company, valued at $808,462. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Veracyte news, Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $808,462. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $658,715.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,105,844.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,141 shares of company stock worth $1,180,116. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Veracyte by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,118,211 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $195,822,000 after acquiring an additional 52,699 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Veracyte by 117.7% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 20,910 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 11,303 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Veracyte by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,860 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 8,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 778 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.