Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 224,185 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its Veracyte stake by 15.1%, selling 224,185 shares in Q4 and now holds 1,257,898 shares (~1.59%) valued at about $52.96 million.
• Insiders have been selling: CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares at ~$35.97 and CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares at ~$36.14, with insiders disposing of 75,782 shares (~$2.72M) over the past three months.
• Operationally Veracyte beat expectations with Q4 EPS $0.53 vs. $0.41 and revenue $140.6M (up 18.5% YoY), but analyst views are mixed—consensus rating is a "Hold" with a $44.33 target price.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,257,898 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 224,185 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 1.59% of Veracyte worth $52,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter worth about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 146.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 74.8% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VCYT shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.33.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $34.04 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.61 and a 12-month high of $50.71. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.01 and a beta of 1.96. The company's 50-day moving average price is $33.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.27.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $140.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.79 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total value of $1,637,462.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 357,554 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,861,217.38. This trade represents a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 131,196 shares in the company, valued at $4,741,423.44. This represents a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,782 shares of company stock valued at $2,722,097. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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