Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) CFO Sells $157,401.20 in Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total value of $157,401.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 166,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,155,677.50. The trade was a 2.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 Performance

VCYT traded down $2.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.53. 992,031 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,225,232. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.45 and a 1 year high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.Veracyte’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 21.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on VCYT. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

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.