LPL Financial LLC Sells 548 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,001 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 548 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth $554,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 138.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 146,402 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,983,000 after purchasing an additional 85,033 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $62,806,000 after acquiring an additional 17,921 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Veracyte by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,865 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,498,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.60.

Veracyte Stock Down 1.2 %

Veracyte stock opened at $31.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of -207.60 and a beta of 2.03. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.09 and a 12-month high of $47.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.37.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The company had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.39) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Veracyte Profile

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.