Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Karin Eastham Sells 3,729 Shares

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $197,226.81. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,480.33. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.8%

VCYT stock opened at $53.19 on Tuesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.61 and a 12-month high of $54.72. The company has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.80 and a beta of 1.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.81 and a 200-day moving average of $39.47.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.Veracyte’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCYT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group upped 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 assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.57.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,448,897 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,669,000 after purchasing an additional 185,929 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Veracyte by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 93,029 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 18,261 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Veracyte by 66.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 573,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,459,000 after buying an additional 228,720 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 6,844.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 69,167 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 68,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 25.0% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,113 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 3,422 shares in 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.