Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $2.04 Million Stake in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 19.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,502 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,174 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned 0.08% of Veracyte worth $2,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 5,435 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 12.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 94.7% in 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 last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 54.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 15,017 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Veracyte by 32.2% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 11,889 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction 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 approximately $798,480.33. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% 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 sold a total of 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCYT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Veracyte from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.88.

Veracyte Stock Up 5.1%

Veracyte stock opened at $59.51 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.60 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.61 and a twelve month high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.