Insider Selling: Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Insider Sells 1,278 Shares of Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) insider John Leite sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.51, for a total transaction of $60,717.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 82,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,901,188.63. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

John Leite also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, November 25th, John Leite sold 2,808 shares of Veracyte stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $140,400.00.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:VCYT traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $47.41. 895,484 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,443. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.77 and a beta of 1.83.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. Veracyte had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.12%.The firm had revenue of $131.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.62 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCYT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.38.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Veracyte by 1,279.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 7,449 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $848,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 70.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 830,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $22,438,000 after buying an additional 342,038 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 79.7% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 41,452 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 18,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Veracyte by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 115,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,110,000 after acquiring an additional 23,047 shares in the last quarter.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.