Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Given “Neutral” Rating at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $37.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $38.00.

VCYT has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.13.

Veracyte Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $42.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of -285.60 and a beta of 1.69. Veracyte has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $44.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.50 and a 200 day moving average of $29.56.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $182,244.79. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $45,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 73,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,192,282.50. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock worth $787,542 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,279,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 67.4% in the 2nd 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. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 288.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 360,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,284,000 after acquiring an additional 268,000 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 276.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 301,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,268,000 after acquiring an additional 221,504 shares during the period. Finally, Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth $6,010,000.

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.