Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target Raised to $51.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its price target hoisted by Needham & Company LLC from $44.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 16.78% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on VCYT. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price objective on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $43.67 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.14. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -291.13 and a beta of 1.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. Veracyte’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. Analysts expect that Veracyte will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total value of $41,452.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. This trade represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,429.10. This trade represents a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,038 shares of company stock valued at $1,008,297 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 21.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC lifted its position in Veracyte by 32.9% in the third quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Veracyte by 100.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,781 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,433 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter.

About Veracyte

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.