51,392 Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Shares Purchased by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its Veracyte stake by 38.1% in the third quarter, adding 51,392 shares to reach 186,387 shares, valued at approximately $8.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Veracyte has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $48.40, while several analysts recently cut their targets.
• Veracyte beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.51 versus $0.41 expected and revenue of $151.75 million, up 15.1% year over year.

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,387 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 51,392 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.23% of Veracyte worth $8,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $792,058,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,881,090 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $92,787,000 after buying an additional 80,614 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,971,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the second quarter worth approximately $84,078,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Veracyte by 64.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,117,046 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $68,190,000 after acquiring an additional 833,543 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on VCYT shares. Leerink Partners downgraded Veracyte from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $55.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Veracyte from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Veracyte from $69.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Veracyte from $65.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Veracyte from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.40.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $25.92 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $43.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.78. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.91 and a 1-year high of $60.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.98.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.10. Veracyte had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The firm had revenue of $151.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Veracyte's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider Phillip Febbo sold 13,110 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.05, for a total value of $564,385.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $5,727,716.40. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 3,652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.10, for a total transaction of $157,401.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 166,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,155,677.50. This represents a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 62,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,858,904 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company that develops tests to help clinicians diagnose disease and guide treatment decisions, with a focus on cancer and other complex conditions. Its tests analyze biological samples to provide information that can help distinguish between conditions and assess disease risk.

The company's portfolio includes Afirma for thyroid nodule assessment, Decipher for prostate cancer, Prosigna for breast cancer, and Percepta for lung cancer. Veracyte also offers Envisia, a genomic test that supports the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other forms of interstitial lung disease.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, Veracyte serves clinicians and patients in the United States and makes certain products available in international markets.

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