Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Price Down 9.2% – Time to Sell?

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) shares traded down 9.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $30.06 and last traded at $29.7740. 688,844 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 904,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VCYT. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.20.

Veracyte Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.16 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.30.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total value of $1,637,462.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 357,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,861,217.38. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 131,196 shares in the company, valued at $4,741,423.44. The trade was a 12.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 75,782 shares of company stock worth $2,722,097 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 409,601 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,062,000 after acquiring an additional 105,721 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 667.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 435,761 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,960,000 after purchasing an additional 379,014 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 178.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 37,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 23,785 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in Veracyte by 16.6% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $253,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Veracyte by 23.6% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,324,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,486,000 after purchasing an additional 253,033 shares during 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.