Evan/ Fa Jones Sells 5,173 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock

Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $182,244.79. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Evan/ Fa Jones also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 13th, Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of Veracyte stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $658,715.40.
• On Friday, August 9th, Evan/ Fa Jones sold 1,032 shares of Veracyte stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.03, for a total transaction of $30,990.96.

Veracyte Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ VCYT traded down $0.57 on Monday, reaching $34.26. 613,033 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 767,024. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $18.61 and a one year high of $35.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -37.05 and a beta of 1.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.86.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $114.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.27 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 13.52% and a positive return on equity of 1.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veracyte

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth $12,279,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,697,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,779,000 after buying an additional 509,340 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 67.4% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,241,671 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,907,000 after buying an additional 500,020 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,190,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in Veracyte by 46.3% during the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,115,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,726,000 after buying an additional 353,000 shares in the last quarter.

About Veracyte

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.