QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 28,295 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

QRG Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 72.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,975 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 28,295 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,360,913 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $183,594,000 after purchasing an additional 161,239 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,118,166 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $107,042,000 after purchasing an additional 95,664 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,900,882 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,039,000 after purchasing an additional 9,429 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,078,000 after purchasing an additional 360,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,158,000.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT stock traded down $2.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.97. 757,209 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,347,420. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.61 and a fifty-two week high of $60.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.86. The company has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.27 and a beta of 1.93.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Veracyte’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VCYT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,204 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 143,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,607,486.16. This trade represents a 6.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $699,728.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 132,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,624,511.35. The trade was 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,696 shares of company stock worth $10,079,058. 1.40% 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.