HighTower Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,325 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cinctive Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 109,015 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 13,351.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 28,517 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 28,305 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 87.0% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,021 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at $574,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG bought a new stake in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at $123,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VCYT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. 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 for the company. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.13.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $40.89 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $46.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of -272.60 and a beta of 1.69.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total transaction of $302,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 114,037 shares in the company, valued at $4,929,819.51. This represents a 5.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total value of $41,452.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,038 shares of company stock worth $605,297 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.