Great Lakes Advisors LLC Takes Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 65,579 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,851,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Veracyte by 289.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total value of $6,919,116.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 162,492 shares of company stock worth $8,151,197 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT opened at $41.79 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.25 and a 12-month high of $60.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.95.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on VCYT shares. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

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.