Jupiter Topco LLC Invests $15.85 Million in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 269,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,845,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $792,058,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,078,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,158,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,398,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 64.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $68,190,000 after purchasing an additional 833,543 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.76, for a total value of $158,037.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,062.40. This trade represents a 2.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total value of $197,226.81. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $798,480.33. The trade was 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 sold 162,492 shares of company stock worth $8,151,197 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VCYT. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.33.

Veracyte Trading Down 4.2%

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.34 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.38 and a 12 month high of $60.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $51.92 and a 200-day moving average of $42.86. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.74 and a beta of 1.95.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.