Insider Selling: Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Robert Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $440,100.00. Following the sale, the director 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 legal 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 Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,168,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,328. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.31 and a beta of 1.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.59. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Veracyte by 5.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,504,088 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $291,945,000 after buying an additional 403,737 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% in the third 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. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,465,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $153,310,000 after acquiring an additional 665,686 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,594,000 after acquiring an additional 161,239 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $107,042,000 after acquiring an additional 95,664 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VCYT shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.