Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 11.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,274,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 284,125 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 2.83% of Veracyte worth $133,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth about $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. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,737,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,398,000.

Veracyte Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $43.19 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.72 and a 200-day moving average of $42.94. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.38 and a 12-month high of $60.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 1.95.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 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 company had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. Veracyte’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $57.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.33.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total value of $6,919,116.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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, EVP Annie Mcguire sold 3,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $6,829,062.40. This represents 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Veracyte

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.