Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Has $33.63 Million Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• Amova Asset Management Americas cut its Veracyte stake by 16.9% in the first quarter, selling 212,851 shares and leaving it with 1,045,047 shares valued at about $33.63 million.
• Insider selling picked up recently, with CEO Marc Stapley and insider John Leite both selling shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans to cover tax withholding obligations tied to equity awards.
• Analysts remain mostly constructive on Veracyte after strong quarterly results; the company beat earnings and revenue estimates, and the stock currently carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average target price of $55.88.

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,045,047 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 212,851 shares during the quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. owned about 1.31% of Veracyte worth $33,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $183,594,000 after buying an additional 161,239 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 3.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $107,042,000 after acquiring an additional 95,664 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,900,882 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,039,000 after acquiring an additional 9,429 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 31.1% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $41,078,000 after purchasing an additional 360,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $58,158,000.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total value of $6,919,116.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 132,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on VCYT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.88.

Veracyte Trading Down 3.2%

VCYT opened at $57.26 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $51.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.50. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 52.53 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.92 and a 1 year high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business's revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.27 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.

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