Man Group plc Makes New $1.31 Million Investment in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Man Group plc bought a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,309,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter worth $50,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Veracyte by 159.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Veracyte by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VCYT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on Veracyte from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 3,729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.89, for a total value of $197,226.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $798,480.33. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $44.88 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $29.45 and a one year high of $60.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83 and a beta of 1.93. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.06.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.