Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) EVP Annie Mcguire Sells 3,254 Shares

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,254 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $140,214.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,651,684.40. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Down 4.8%

Shares of VCYT traded down $2.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.53. 992,031 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,225,232. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.12. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $60.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16 and a beta of 1.93.

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 during 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Veracyte by 21.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Veracyte by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Veracyte by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter.

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.