Summit Creek Advisors LLC Makes New $8.52 Million Investment in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Summit Creek Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 248,125 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,518,000. Summit Creek Advisors LLC owned 0.32% of Veracyte at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,321,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082,064 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Veracyte by 770.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,256,000 after purchasing an additional 794,307 shares during the period. Soleus Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter worth $19,338,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 31.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,078,000 after purchasing an additional 360,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 70.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 830,099 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,438,000 after purchasing an additional 342,038 shares during the period.

Veracyte Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $42.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.66 and a beta of 1.88. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $50.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.18 and its 200 day moving average is $34.86.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. Veracyte had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.12%.The company had revenue of $131.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,739 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $463,173.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 67,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,488.80. The trade was a 13.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.51, for a total transaction of $60,717.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 82,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,901,188.63. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 134,635 shares of company stock valued at $5,981,961 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.14.

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.