Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Shares Up 9.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) shares shot up 9.9% during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $49.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Veracyte traded as high as $35.95 and last traded at $36.77. 451,819 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 835,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.46.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lifted 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 reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total transaction of $41,452.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,746,107.20. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 73,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,192,282.50. The trade was a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,533 shares of company stock valued at $815,584. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at $396,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 127.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 29,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 16,512 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,330,000.

Veracyte Trading Down 4.8 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -225.60 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.61.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.39) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.