Phocas Financial Corp. Decreases Stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Phocas Financial Corp. lowered its position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 84.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,906 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 44,613 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Veracyte by 13.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 21.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 100.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,781 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT stock opened at $35.53 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.63. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $47.32. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -236.87 and a beta of 1.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The firm had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VCYT shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,429.10. The trade was a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total transaction of $302,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,037 shares in the company, valued at $4,929,819.51. This represents a 5.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,533 shares of company stock worth $815,584 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veracyte 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.