Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New Investment in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 299,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,614,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the second 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. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 159.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VCYT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stephens reduced their price target on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Veracyte Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $45.25 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.85. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09 and a beta of 1.95. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.55 and a 12-month high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 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 business had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total value of $6,919,116.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.