Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases New Stake in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,045 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $792,058,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,594,000 after purchasing an additional 161,239 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $107,042,000 after buying an additional 95,664 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 64.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,190,000 after buying an additional 833,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,900,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,039,000 after buying an additional 9,429 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.3%

Veracyte stock opened at $43.19 on Tuesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.38 and a 1-year high of $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 1.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.94.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total value of $177,088.53. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,617,214.40. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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, Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $197,226.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,480.33. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,492 shares of company stock worth $8,151,197. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.