Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $44.09, but opened at $42.00. Veracyte shares last traded at $43.17, with a volume of 109,883 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total value of $41,452.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total value of $302,610.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 114,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,929,819.51. The trade was a 5.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $45,412.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 73,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,192,282.50. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VCYT. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.13.

Veracyte Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -294.20 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. Veracyte’s revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Veracyte by 2,331.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Veracyte by 168.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $85,000.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.