Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,504,088 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 403,737 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.81% of Veracyte worth $291,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 74.8% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter worth approximately $107,000.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 7,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.09, for a total value of $361,086.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 318,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,003,015.27. This trade represents a 2.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total value of $909,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,554 shares in the company, valued at $616,029.30. This represents a 59.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 54,385 shares of company stock worth $2,483,179 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Veracyte Stock Down 5.6%

VCYT stock opened at $36.59 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.84. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.61 and a fifty-two week high of $50.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.08 and a beta of 1.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The business had revenue of $140.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VCYT. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

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.