Legal Advantage Investments Inc. Takes $250,000 Position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Legal Advantage Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 6.3% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 112,895 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 6,648 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 5,737.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 29,248 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 28,747 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 4.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,629 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,221,000 after acquiring an additional 6,025 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $420,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $217,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 5,032 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $215,822.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 42,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,814,804.57. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $403,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,429.10. The trade was a 35.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,038 shares of company stock worth $1,008,297 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on VCYT shares. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted 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. Scotiabank boosted 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. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.13.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $40.58 on Tuesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.23.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.