Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $1.03 Million in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 32,024 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 146.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total value of $1,089,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 45,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. This represents a 34.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at $6,624,511.35. This trade represents 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.86.

Veracyte Price Performance

NASDAQ VCYT traded down $2.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.97. The stock had a trading volume of 757,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,347,420. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.67 and its 200 day moving average is $40.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.27 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.61 and a twelve month high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results 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. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

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.