1,954,198 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Purchased by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,954,198 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,971,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter worth $50,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Veracyte by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, insider John Leite sold 4,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $160,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 124,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,973,160. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jens Holstein sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.95, for a total transaction of $204,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,124,937.45. This trade represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 30,895 shares of company stock valued at $1,307,448 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.78.

Veracyte Price Performance

Veracyte stock traded down $3.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,730,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,325. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.45 and a 1 year high of $60.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67 and a beta of 1.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.43.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. Veracyte had a net margin of 20.37% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The company had revenue of $150.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc is a diagnostic company that develops and commercializes genomic tests designed to help physicians diagnose cancer, assess disease risk and guide treatment decisions. Its tests analyze genetic information from patient samples and are intended to provide more precise answers than traditional diagnostic methods alone.

The company’s portfolio includes Afirma genomic tests for thyroid nodules, Decipher tests for prostate cancer, Percepta tests for lung cancer and Envisio tests that support the evaluation of certain lung nodules.