Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $41.93 and last traded at $41.89, with a volume of 176589 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Veracyte from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.25.

Veracyte Trading Up 0.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -285.93 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.75.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,903.89. This represents a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 2,331.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 168.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,000.

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.