Annie Mcguire Sells 10,204 Shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,204 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.02, for a total transaction of $398,160.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 143,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,607,486.16. The trade was a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Annie Mcguire also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 4th, Annie Mcguire sold 6,658 shares of Veracyte stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.55, for a total transaction of $236,691.90.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,159,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,500. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $50.71. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.23.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCYT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.