Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $44.29 and last traded at $44.08, with a volume of 542903 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCYT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.25.

Veracyte Stock Up 2.7 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.07. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -286.33 and a beta of 1.67.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly 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. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at $2,268,461.72. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 5,032 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $215,822.48. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,804.57. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,684 shares of company stock worth $561,232. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Veracyte by 6.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 8,198 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 105.6% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,368 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 11.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 4,256 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 604.2% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 62,686 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 53,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 951 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.