Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) PT Raised to $26.00 at Morgan Stanley

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $29.75.

Veracyte Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of VCYT opened at $32.66 on Monday. Veracyte has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $33.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.74 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.57.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 1.52% and a negative net margin of 13.52%. The firm had revenue of $114.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veracyte will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, Director Muna Bhanji sold 1,539 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $32,319.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $566,475. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $658,715.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,105,844.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Muna Bhanji sold 1,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $32,319.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,475. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,175 shares of company stock valued at $1,217,514. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,649,000 after purchasing an additional 266,660 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,372,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $92,787,000 after purchasing an additional 161,073 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,179,000 after acquiring an additional 242,760 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,012,000 after acquiring an additional 242,760 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,697,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,779,000 after acquiring an additional 509,340 shares during the last quarter.

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.