Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $28.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Veracyte traded as low as $19.40 and last traded at $19.46, with a volume of 313919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.23.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,156.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 7,655,603 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $210,606,000 after purchasing an additional 62,011 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $506,000. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,810 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 55.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 166,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,723,000 after acquiring an additional 59,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 96.2% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.06.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $98.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.49 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 20.61% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

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.