Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires Shares of 10,925 Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,925 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Veracyte by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,916,515 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $99,278,000 after purchasing an additional 7,920 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $62,806,000 after purchasing an additional 17,921 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 833,754 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,017,000 after buying an additional 448,251 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 785,971 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $31,124,000 after buying an additional 3,111 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 276.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 301,652 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $10,268,000 after buying an additional 221,504 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VCYT shares. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.60.

Veracyte Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of Veracyte stock traded down $2.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $30.25. 1,417,360 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 857,855. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.61 and a twelve month high of $47.32. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of -201.67 and a beta of 2.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.46.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The firm had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

About Veracyte

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.