Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) CEO Sells $1,637,462.31 in Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total value of $1,637,462.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 357,554 shares in the company, valued at $12,861,217.38. The trade was a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.85. The company had a trading volume of 964,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 868,062. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.25 and its 200-day moving average is $38.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78 and a beta of 1.91. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.61 and a twelve month high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.79 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 12.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in Veracyte by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 409,601 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,062,000 after purchasing an additional 105,721 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 667.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 435,761 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,960,000 after acquiring an additional 379,014 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Veracyte by 178.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 37,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 23,785 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $253,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,384,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.14.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.