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

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 83.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,097 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 16,101 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 2.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 44,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Veracyte by 0.8% during the 2nd 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 during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Veracyte by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $55.61 on Tuesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.92 and a 52-week high of $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.02 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.91 and a 200 day moving average of $42.01.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Veracyte’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on 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 given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.88.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,204 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.02, for a total value of $398,160.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 143,708 shares in the company, valued at $5,607,486.16. The trade was a 6.63% decrease in their position. The transaction 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. Also, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of Veracyte 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.