Needham & Company LLC Boosts Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Price Target to $31.00

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its target price lifted by Needham & Company LLC from $27.00 to $31.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Veracyte Stock Down 2.3 %

VCYT traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,911,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,299. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.14 and a beta of 1.65. Veracyte has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $30.86.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 1.54% and a negative net margin of 13.52%. The business had revenue of $114.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS. Veracyte’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Veracyte will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,878 shares in the company, valued at $808,462. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider John Leite sold 1,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $31,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 82,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,074,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $145,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $808,462. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,686 shares of company stock worth $527,807. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,697,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,779,000 after purchasing an additional 509,340 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 67.4% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,241,671 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,907,000 after acquiring an additional 500,020 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth $11,190,000. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 46.3% during the first quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,115,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,726,000 after acquiring an additional 353,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,649,000 after acquiring an additional 266,660 shares during the period.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.