Legal & General Group Plc Invests $50.40 Million in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• Legal & General Group acquired 858,136 Veracyte shares worth approximately $50.4 million, giving it a 1.07% stake. Several other institutional investors also initiated positions during the second quarter.
• Veracyte exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.54 in EPS versus the $0.41 consensus and $150.32 million in revenue, up 15.5% year over year. Shares opened at $43.34, down 4.2%, with a market capitalization of roughly $3.48 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a $54.33 target price. Recent price-target increases included Guggenheim at $65 and Needham at $69, while insiders sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards.

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 858,136 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $50,398,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.07% of Veracyte as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,206,000. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,965,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $377,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,583,000. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,380,000.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total transaction of $177,088.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,617,214.40. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.76, for a total transaction of $158,037.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,829,062.40. This represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,492 shares of company stock worth $8,151,197. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veracyte Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.74 and a beta of 1.95. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $51.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.86. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.38 and a 52-week high of $60.91.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Veracyte from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim increased their price target on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Veracyte from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $54.33.

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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