Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,506 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,198 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,506 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,697,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,779,000 after acquiring an additional 509,340 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at $11,190,000. Bamco Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 46.3% during the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,115,806 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,726,000 after purchasing an additional 353,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 3.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,179,000 after buying an additional 242,760 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VCYT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.25.

Veracyte Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $30.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.03 and its 200 day moving average is $23.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.36 and a beta of 1.66. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $33.33.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 1.52% and a negative net margin of 13.52%. The firm had revenue of $114.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.27 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total value of $658,715.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,105,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider John Leite sold 1,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $31,925.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 82,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,074,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 20,457 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.20, for a total transaction of $658,715.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,105,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,745 shares of company stock valued at $1,217,296 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.