Virtus Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 37,574 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,207,000. Veracyte accounts for 0.8% of Virtus Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 893 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 159.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.33.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $41.79 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $60.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.61. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.95.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.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 company posted $0.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,829,062.40. This trade represents a 2.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 Veracyte 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 sale, the director owned 15,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,480.33. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.