Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Shares Sold by Moore Capital Management LP

Moore Capital Management LP lessened its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,106 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 37,654 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP owned about 0.05% of Veracyte worth $2,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 14.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,448,897 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,669,000 after acquiring an additional 185,929 shares in the last quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,986,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 790,425 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,277,000 after buying an additional 112,516 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Veracyte by 66.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 573,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,459,000 after acquiring an additional 228,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter worth approximately $5,913,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VCYT. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

Veracyte Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 1.95. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.38 and a 52-week high of $60.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.94.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.76, for a total value of $158,037.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,829,062.40. This trade represents a 2.26% decrease in their position. The sale 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, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.