Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Shares Sold by Eventide Asset Management LLC

Eventide Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 570,720 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 114,136 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $24,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 5,435 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 195,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after buying an additional 21,330 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 94.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,431,000 after buying an additional 105,499 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 54.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after buying an additional 15,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after buying an additional 11,889 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on VCYT shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.57.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total value of $1,089,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 45,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. This represents a 34.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the company’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 transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 202,967 shares of company stock worth $9,881,831 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $47.33 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.61 and a 52 week high of $50.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.33.

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