SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 43.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,316 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 19,437 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 146.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 74.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total value of $185,099.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,740.20. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total value of $1,637,462.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 357,554 shares in the company, valued at $12,861,217.38. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,782 shares of company stock valued at $2,722,097. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.20.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $32.67 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $50.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 39.36 and a beta of 1.96. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.30.

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

About Veracyte

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.