Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 133,585 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 633,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 133,585 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $26,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,504,088 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $291,945,000 after acquiring an additional 403,737 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $253,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,692 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,465,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $153,310,000 after acquiring an additional 665,686 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,594,000 after acquiring an additional 161,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $107,042,000 after acquiring an additional 95,664 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $50.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.72 and a beta of 1.98. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $52.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.30.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total transaction of $177,088.53. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,617,214.40. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total transaction of $1,089,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. The trade was a 34.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 202,967 shares of company stock valued at $9,881,831. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.57.

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.