BlackRock Inc. Acquires New Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 13.49 million Veracyte shares worth approximately $792.1 million, giving it a 16.78% ownership stake in the biotechnology company.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: Veracyte has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $54.33, though one firm maintains a “Hold” rating.
• Veracyte exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $0.54 per share versus estimates of $0.41 and revenue of $150.32 million, up 15.5% year over year; insiders have sold $8.15 million of stock over the past 90 days.

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,486,437 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $792,058,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 16.78% of Veracyte as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in 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 last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 159.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth $61,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Veracyte from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veracyte from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total transaction of $177,088.53. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,617,214.40. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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, Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total value of $197,226.81. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,097 shares in the company, valued at $798,480.33. This represents a 19.81% 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. Insiders have sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Veracyte Trading Up 1.2%

Veracyte stock opened at $42.31 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.25 and a 52 week high of $60.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01 and a beta of 1.95. The company's 50-day moving average price is $52.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.61.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $150.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 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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