Formula Growth Ltd. Purchases Shares of 27,000 Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Formula Growth Ltd. acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 27,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Veracyte by 159.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000.

Veracyte Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $45.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09 and a beta of 1.95. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.55 and a twelve month high of $60.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.85.

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 net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider 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 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 sold a total of 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim upped their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stephens dropped their price target on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

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.