Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Jens Holstein Sells 5,000 Shares

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.95, for a total value of $204,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,124,937.45. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT traded down $1.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.50. 1,621,981 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,801. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.47. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.45 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter worth $792,058,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth $84,078,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,737,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the second quarter valued at about $50,398,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Veracyte by 64.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,190,000 after purchasing an additional 833,543 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VCYT. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Veracyte from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler decreased 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. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.78.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes genomic tests designed to help physicians diagnose cancer, assess disease risk and guide treatment decisions. The company combines genomic data with bioinformatics and machine-learning technologies to provide clinically actionable information from patient tissue samples.

Veracyte’s portfolio includes Afirma tests for evaluating thyroid nodules, Decipher tests for assessing the risk and biological characteristics of prostate cancer, and Prosigna for classifying and evaluating recurrence risk in certain breast cancers.