Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 690,757 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 94,696 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $29,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 146.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT opened at $46.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.82. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.61 and a 1-year high of $50.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.51 and a beta of 1.89.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released 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. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total value of $1,089,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,703.60. This trade represents a 34.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,148.46. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 119,986 shares of company stock worth $4,649,957. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

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.