Craig Hallum Initiates Coverage on Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Analysts at Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) in a research note issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Craig Hallum’s price target points to a potential upside of 41.60% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.22.

Veracyte Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $31.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.65. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -211.87 and a beta of 1.80. Veracyte has a twelve month low of $18.61 and a twelve month high of $47.32.

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

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,429.10. The trade was a 35.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,599,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $261,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,432 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Veracyte by 768.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 956,577 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,880,000 after acquiring an additional 846,487 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 226.8% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,766 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,877,000 after acquiring an additional 821,554 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,717,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Veracyte by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,211,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $325,180,000 after acquiring an additional 463,098 shares in the last quarter.

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.