Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Insider Sells $564,385.50 in Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) insider Phillip Febbo sold 13,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total value of $564,385.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,727,716.40. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 Trading Down 4.8%

NASDAQ VCYT traded down $2.14 on Friday, reaching $42.53. 992,031 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,225,232. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $29.45 and a one year high of $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16 and a beta of 1.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.12.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VCYT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 26.9% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 162,021 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,515,000 after buying an additional 34,299 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Veracyte by 92.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 23,305 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after buying an additional 11,181 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $439,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $719,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Veracyte by 5,665.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,363,282 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $314,986,000 after acquiring an additional 5,270,253 shares during the last quarter.

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.