Globeflex Capital L P Makes New Investment in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 74,576 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,448,897 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,669,000 after buying an additional 185,929 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in Veracyte by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 489,418 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,604,000 after acquiring an additional 79,817 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Veracyte by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 790,425 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,277,000 after acquiring an additional 112,516 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Veracyte by 24.4% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 93,029 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after acquiring an additional 18,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,986,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VCYT shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $699,728.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. 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 sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $42.31 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.64. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.25 and a twelve month high of $60.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01 and a beta of 1.95.

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

Veracyte 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.