Castleark Management LLC Acquires Shares of 72,016 Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 72,016 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,230,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,398,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Veracyte during the second quarter valued at about $2,206,000. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth $2,965,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the second quarter worth about $377,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,583,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VCYT. Stephens dropped their price target on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.33.

Veracyte Trading Up 6.2%

VCYT stock opened at $44.04 on Wednesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.25 and a 12 month high of $60.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23 and a beta of 1.95.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. This represents a 23.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 162,492 shares of company stock valued at $8,151,197. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.