Karin Eastham Sells 10,000 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,429.10. The trade was a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Veracyte Trading Up 3.6 %

Veracyte stock opened at $43.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of -289.40 and a beta of 1.71. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.82.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.03) earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at about $58,000. Castleview Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Veracyte by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Veracyte by 21.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VCYT. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.13.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.