Insider Selling: Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,029.30. The trade was a 59.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Karin Eastham also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, November 5th, Karin Eastham sold 9,674 shares of Veracyte stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $387,153.48.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT traded down $0.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $44.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 977,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,102,184. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.61 and a fifty-two week high of $50.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 116.74 and a beta of 1.82.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.19. Veracyte had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $131.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1,279.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 7,449 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the first quarter worth about $848,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 178.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 37,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 23,785 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 79.7% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 41,452 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 18,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 70.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 830,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $22,438,000 after purchasing an additional 342,038 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on VCYT. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.43.

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.