Iron Triangle Partners LP Invests $16.65 Million in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Iron Triangle Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 485,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,650,000. Veracyte comprises approximately 2.4% of Iron Triangle Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at about $240,000. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at about $26,348,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,207,000. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $290,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 52,281 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,595 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Zacks Research cut Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.14.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total transaction of $185,099.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,740.20. This trade represents a 4.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 131,196 shares in the company, valued at $4,741,423.44. This represents a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 86,521 shares of company stock worth $3,185,270 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veracyte Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $32.13 on Monday. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.61 and a fifty-two week high of $50.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71 and a beta of 1.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.79 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS 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.