Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) Shares Down 9.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell about 9% on Friday, trading as low as $30.06 and last at $29.77, with volume roughly 24% below its average daily level.
• Quarterly beat: Veracyte reported $0.53 EPS vs. $0.41 expected and revenue of $140.6M vs. $135.8M, with revenue up 18.5% year‑over‑year and a 12.8% net margin.
• Analysts are mixed — the consensus rating is a “Hold” with a $45.20 price target — while insiders have sold shares recently (75,782 shares in the last 90 days) even as some institutions built large positions.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCYT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.20.

Veracyte Stock Down 9.7%

The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.27.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $140.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.79 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total transaction of $1,637,462.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 357,554 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,861,217.38. The trade was a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 6,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.55, for a total transaction of $236,691.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 94,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,366,798.30. This trade represents a 6.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,782 shares of company stock worth $2,722,097. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veracyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,158,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,064,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,048,692 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Veracyte by 770.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,256,000 after buying an additional 794,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,348,000.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.

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