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

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. The trade was a 34.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $44.49 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.82 and a beta of 1.89. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.72.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VCYT shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,158,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,064,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Veracyte by 16.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,048,692 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Veracyte by 64.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,190,000 after acquiring an additional 833,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 770.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,256,000 after acquiring an additional 794,307 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.