Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 62,676 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 795,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,676 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $33,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 146.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In other news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total value of $185,099.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,740.20. The trade was a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,148.46. This represents a 16.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,986 shares of company stock valued at $3,560,357. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCYT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $44.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.56 and a beta of 1.89. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $50.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.70.

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

About Veracyte

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.