Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 16,101 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 83.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,097 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 16,101 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth about $58,158,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 770.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,256,000 after buying an additional 794,307 shares during the last quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter worth approximately $19,338,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 102.1% during the 4th quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP now owns 980,391 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,274,000 after buying an additional 495,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 31.1% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,078,000 after acquiring an additional 360,947 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,089,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total value of $6,919,116.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 have sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $55.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.02 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.92 and a 52 week high of $60.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.01.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCYT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price target on Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.88.

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.