Profund Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,667 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,505 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in Veracyte by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 409,601 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,062,000 after acquiring an additional 105,721 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 667.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 435,761 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,960,000 after purchasing an additional 379,014 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $253,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048,692 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 23.6% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,324,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,486,000 after purchasing an additional 253,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at $1,384,000.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $45.19 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $50.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.46 and a beta of 1.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.53.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 131,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,741,423.44. This trade represents a 12.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total transaction of $185,099.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,740.20. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 85,986 shares of company stock valued at $3,120,257. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VCYT. UBS Group raised their price target on Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.83.

Veracyte Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.