Synovus Financial Corp Raises Position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 16.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,916,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,278,000 after buying an additional 7,920 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $62,806,000 after buying an additional 17,921 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,241,671 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,907,000 after buying an additional 500,020 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 934,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,261,000 after buying an additional 19,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 677,883 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,075,000 after buying an additional 113,883 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $42.24 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.90 and a 200-day moving average of $30.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of -281.67 and a beta of 1.69. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $46.00.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The company had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 5,032 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $215,822.48. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,804.57. The trade was a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock valued at $787,542. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.13.

Veracyte Profile

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.