Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Sells $440,100.00 in Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Robert Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,148.46. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $45.03 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.65. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $50.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.31 and a beta of 1.89.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at $58,158,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,064,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Veracyte by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $253,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,692 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Veracyte by 64.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,190,000 after acquiring an additional 833,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 770.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,256,000 after acquiring an additional 794,307 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

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.