Jennison Associates LLC Trims Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 3.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 385,503 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 15,581 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $13,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the first quarter worth about $140,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Veracyte by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 23,056 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Veracyte by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,649,000 after purchasing an additional 266,660 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Veracyte by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 35,750 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 6,940 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 8,198 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.25.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of VCYT opened at $39.59 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.61 and a fifty-two week high of $41.43. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -263.93 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.12.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total value of $163,164.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,903.89. This represents a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.