Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 96.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,038 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 803,061 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 74.8% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 1,279.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 7,449 shares during the period.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $42.79 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.61 and a beta of 1.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.45.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $131.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.62 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.12%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VCYT shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $616,029.30. This trade represents a 59.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $463,173.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 67,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,488.80. This trade represents a 13.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 142,984 shares of company stock worth $6,282,692. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Profile

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.