Summit Creek Advisors LLC Takes Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Key Points

• Summit Creek Advisors acquired 118,956 Veracyte shares worth approximately $6.99 million, making up 2.4% of its portfolio and representing about 0.15% of Veracyte’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.33, despite Canaccord lowering its target to $50.
• Veracyte exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.54 in adjusted earnings per share versus a $0.41 estimate and revenue of $150.32 million, up 15.5% year over year. Shares opened at $40.68, while insiders sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations under pre-arranged trading plans.

Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 118,956 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,986,000. Veracyte comprises approximately 2.4% of Summit Creek Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Summit Creek Advisors LLC owned about 0.15% of Veracyte at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VCYT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 21.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 2.3% during 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 during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VCYT shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Veracyte from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Guggenheim raised 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. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Veracyte from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.33.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. 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, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. 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 a total of 186,492 shares of company stock valued at $9,240,797 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Veracyte Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $40.68 on Wednesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.25 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85 and a beta of 1.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.56.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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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