Commerce Bank Takes $867,000 Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,761 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter valued at $792,058,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $84,078,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $58,158,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $68,190,000 after purchasing an additional 833,543 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 770.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,256,000 after purchasing an additional 794,307 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $699,728.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 132,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $197,226.81. Following the sale, the director 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 three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $44.29 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $60.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.29 and a 200-day moving average of $42.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.41 and a beta of 1.95.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) 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. The business had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 20.37%.The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VCYT shares. Zacks Research upgraded Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.