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

Formula Growth Ltd. bought a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 27,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Veracyte by 21.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Veracyte by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Veracyte by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $699,728.25. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 dated 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 $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $45.25 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.55 and a fifty-two week high of $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09 and a beta of 1.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $52.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.85.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VCYT. Stephens decreased their price target on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Veracyte Company 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.