Great Lakes Advisors LLC Invests $3.85 Million in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 65,579 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,851,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Veracyte at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 21.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Veracyte by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCYT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Veracyte from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $41.79 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $28.25 and a one year high of $60.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.61.

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

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 132,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total transaction of $177,088.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,617,214.40. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 valued at $8,151,197 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.