Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Takes Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital purchased 141,811 Veracyte shares worth approximately $4.57 million, representing about 0.18% of the company. Several other hedge funds also increased or initiated positions.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with Veracyte carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $56.12. Recent ratings included Piper Sandler’s $66 price target and UBS’s $52 target.
• Veracyte exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.54 in EPS versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $150.32 million, up 15.5% year over year. Insiders sold more than $10 million in shares over the past 90 days, primarily through pre-arranged plans to cover tax obligations.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 141,811 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,568,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.18% of Veracyte as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Veracyte by 289.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 159.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This trade represents a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were 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 $6,624,511.35. This represents a 9.55% 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. 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 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veracyte Stock Down 3.2%

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $44.85 on Tuesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.35 and a twelve month high of $60.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.72 and a 200-day moving average of $42.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 1.95.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.59 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS 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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