Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 19,117 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 108,142 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 19,117 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $4,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth $58,158,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth $40,064,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $253,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,692 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 770.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,256,000 after buying an additional 794,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth $26,348,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $49.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.09 and a beta of 1.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.28. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The firm’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. Research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total value of $440,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,148.46. This represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 202,967 shares of company stock valued at $9,881,831. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VCYT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.57.

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.