Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 476,686 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,302 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Veracyte worth $15,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VCYT. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Veracyte by 146.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,148.46. The trade was a 16.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total value of $1,089,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 45,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,703.60. This trade represents a 34.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.88.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT stock opened at $57.88 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.85. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.92 and a fifty-two week high of $60.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a PE ratio of 53.10 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current 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.