Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stock Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 66.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 573,096 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 228,720 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $18,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Veracyte by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Veracyte by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 44,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% during the second 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 raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 7.9% during the fourth 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 lifted 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.

Veracyte Price Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $46.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.76 and a 200 day moving average of $42.42. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.52 and a 52 week high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $144.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price 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. 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 note on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Veracyte from $66.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.33.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total transaction of $699,728.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 132,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,624,511.35. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.76, for a total value of $158,037.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,829,062.40. The trade was a 2.26% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 196,492 shares of company stock valued at $9,680,897 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.