Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stake in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 10,285.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,549 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,043 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Veracyte by 23.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 5,435 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 12.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 195,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after acquiring an additional 21,330 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 94.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,431,000 after acquiring an additional 105,499 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 54.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 15,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 32.2% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 11,889 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of VCYT opened at $58.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.22 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’s 50-day moving average price is $51.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.74.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,561 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.73, for a total transaction of $177,088.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,617,214.40. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total transaction of $197,226.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,480.33. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VCYT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.88.

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.