Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys Shares of 9,526 Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Veracyte by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $163,649,000 after acquiring an additional 266,660 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 67.4% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,241,671 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,907,000 after buying an additional 500,020 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2.1% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 934,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,261,000 after buying an additional 19,244 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1.2% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 625,536 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,555,000 after buying an additional 7,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,279,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Veracyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $42.89 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $44.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.39 and its 200-day moving average is $28.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -285.93 and a beta of 1.67.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Veracyte Company 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.