Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires Shares of 38,657 Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 38,657 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,316,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VCYT shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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 assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total value of $41,452.16. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $45,412.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 73,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,192,282.50. This trade represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock worth $787,542. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $44.13 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.77. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -294.20 and a beta of 1.69. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $18.61 and a one 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. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Company 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.