Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) CFO Sells $177,088.53 in Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total value of $177,088.53. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,617,214.40. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 Down 2.4%

VCYT stock opened at $48.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 44.71 and a beta of 1.98. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.61 and a twelve month high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Veracyte this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Veracyte has stayed sharply higher since its latest earnings report, suggesting investors are still encouraged by the company’s recent beat on both earnings and revenue and its improved growth outlook. Why Is Veracyte (VCYT) Up 18.2% Since Last Earnings Report?
• Positive Sentiment: The company also highlighted ASCO findings from its OPTIMA and ENZAMET Phase III trials in breast and prostate cancer, which could support Veracyte’s precision-diagnostics growth story. Veracyte, Inc. (VCYT) Discusses ASCO Findings From OPTIMA and ENZAMET Phase III Trials in Breast and Prostate Cancer – Slideshow

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Veracyte by 5.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,504,088 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $291,945,000 after purchasing an additional 403,737 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in Veracyte by 16.6% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $253,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,692 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Veracyte by 17.5% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,465,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $153,310,000 after purchasing an additional 665,686 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Veracyte by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,594,000 after purchasing an additional 161,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Veracyte by 3.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $107,042,000 after purchasing an additional 95,664 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.57.

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.