Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Holdings Raised by Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,798 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,983 shares during the quarter. Veracyte accounts for about 1.5% of Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. owned about 0.07% of Veracyte worth $1,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 11.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 4,256 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Veracyte by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 129,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,804,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Veracyte by 22.7% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,903.89. The trade was a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total transaction of $41,452.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,746,107.20. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock worth $787,542 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.13.

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $42.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of -285.60 and a beta of 1.69. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $44.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.56.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.