Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires Shares of 176,315 Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 176,315 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,850,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. owned 0.24% of Veracyte at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VCYT. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 533.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,146 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter worth $390,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter worth $84,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Veracyte by 46.1% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,006 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 6,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Veracyte by 15.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 296,847 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,629,000 after buying an additional 39,440 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total transaction of $216,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,125 shares in the company, valued at $717,156.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VCYT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Veracyte from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.00.

Veracyte Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Veracyte stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.35. 463,840 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 659,949. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.76 and a beta of 1.65. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $30.52. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $21.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.82.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $98.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.49 million. Veracyte had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 20.61%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

Veracyte Profile

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.