Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Shares Purchased by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 219,979 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,597 shares during the period. Veracyte comprises about 1.0% of EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. owned 0.28% of Veracyte worth $7,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 20.7% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,321,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,064 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,169,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,677,000 after buying an additional 11,461 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,078,000 after buying an additional 360,947 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Veracyte by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,071,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,974,000 after buying an additional 28,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 19.9% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 983,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,592,000 after acquiring an additional 163,049 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 13,278 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $621,941.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,128,792.64. The trade was a 10.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.51, for a total value of $60,717.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 82,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,901,188.63. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,635 shares of company stock worth $5,981,961. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of VCYT opened at $40.57 on Tuesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $50.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 106.77 and a beta of 1.88.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. Veracyte had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $131.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share 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.