Mariner LLC Grows Stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 30.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,077 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,211,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $325,180,000 after purchasing an additional 463,098 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in Veracyte by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,599,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $261,331,000 after buying an additional 1,576,432 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Veracyte by 116.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 833,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,017,000 after buying an additional 448,251 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Veracyte by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 785,971 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,124,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 134.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 635,110 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,150,000 after acquiring an additional 363,862 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.60.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $30.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -202.33 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.42 and a 200 day moving average of $37.22. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.73 and a fifty-two week high of $47.32.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $118.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.39) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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.