Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) CFO Sells 3,652 Shares

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total value of $157,401.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 166,025 shares in the company, valued at $7,155,677.50. The trade was a 2.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ VCYT traded down $2.14 on Friday, hitting $42.53. 992,031 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,225,232. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.45 and a 52-week high of $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.16 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.12.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 159.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000.

About Veracyte

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.