Granite Investment Partners LLC Trims Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 14.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 298,589 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 52,449 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Veracyte worth $9,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 23.6% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,324,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,486,000 after purchasing an additional 253,033 shares during the last quarter. Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $1,376,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter worth about $16,650,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Veracyte by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 518,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,812,000 after buying an additional 181,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in Veracyte by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 489,418 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,604,000 after buying an additional 79,817 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, 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 trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, 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 value of $197,226.81. Following the sale, the director owned 15,097 shares in the company, valued at $798,480.33. This represents a 19.81% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.1%

VCYT opened at $56.12 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.61 and a twelve month high of $60.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.49 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.64.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VCYT. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.43.

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.