Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 1,107,426 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• Artisan Partners cut its Veracyte stake by 15% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,107,426 shares and ending with 6,263,041 shares valued at about $263.7 million.
• Veracyte insiders also sold stock, including CEO Marc Stapley and insider John Leite, with total insider sales of 202,967 shares worth about $9.9 million over the last 90 days.
• The company beat its latest quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.52 versus estimates of $0.34 and revenue of $139.07 million, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $47.57.

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,263,041 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 1,107,426 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 7.92% of Veracyte worth $263,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Veracyte by 23.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 5,435 shares in 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 first 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 buying an additional 21,330 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 94.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,431,000 after buying an additional 105,499 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 54.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,268,000 after buying an additional 15,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 32.2% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,786 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,319,000 after buying an additional 11,889 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the business's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. The trade was a 9.55% 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 202,967 shares of company stock valued at $9,881,831 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.57.

Veracyte Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of VCYT opened at $50.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.72 and a beta of 1.98. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.61 and a 1-year high of $52.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $40.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.30.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

About Veracyte

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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