Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Muna Bhanji Sells 1,864 Shares

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Muna Bhanji sold 1,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.97, for a total transaction of $80,096.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 42,718 shares in the company, valued at $1,835,592.46. This trade represents a 4.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $44.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.13. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.45 and a fifty-two week high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.The company had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% during 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 buying an additional 185,929 shares during the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,986,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Veracyte by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 790,425 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,277,000 after acquiring an additional 112,516 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Veracyte by 66.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 573,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,459,000 after acquiring an additional 228,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at $5,913,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

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.