Deutsche Bank AG Makes New $5.91 Million Investment in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 100,684 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,913,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 195,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,805,000 after purchasing an additional 21,330 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,431,000 after purchasing an additional 105,499 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 15,017 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after buying an additional 11,889 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was 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 owned 137,240 shares in the company, valued at $6,829,062.40. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 have sold a total of 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veracyte Trading Down 2.0%

VCYT stock opened at $41.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41 and a beta of 1.95. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.67.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.33.

Veracyte 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.