Jonathan Wygant Sells 24,000 Shares of Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total transaction of $1,089,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 45,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. This trade represents a 34.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $47.99 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.61 and a fifty-two week high of $50.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 44.03 and a beta of 1.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.76.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.83.

Institutional Trading of Veracyte

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 5,435 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 195,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,805,000 after buying an additional 21,330 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,431,000 after buying an additional 105,499 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after buying an additional 15,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after buying an additional 11,889 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.