First Trust Advisors LP Buys 833,543 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its Veracyte stake by 64.9% in the first quarter, buying 833,543 shares and bringing its total holding to 2,117,046 shares worth about $68.2 million.
• Veracyte shares were down 2.2% to $56.61, but the stock remains near its 52-week high of $60.91 after a strong run this year.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.52 versus $0.34 expected and revenue of $139.1 million, while analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $55.88.

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 64.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 833,543 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.65% of Veracyte worth $68,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Veracyte by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 44,264 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter.

Veracyte Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of VCYT opened at $56.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.94 and a beta of 1.93. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $52.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.95. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Veracyte's quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VCYT. Wolfe Research initiated 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 increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.88.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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