Corient Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 130,037 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,475,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 229.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 7,156 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth $58,158,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth about $962,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $58.55 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $60.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 53.72 and a beta of 1.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.23 and its 200 day moving average is $39.68.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the 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 owned 45,434 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,703.60. This represents a 34.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 sale, the insider owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at $6,624,511.35. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VCYT. Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.57.

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.