AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $14.06 Million Stock Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,601 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,721 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned about 0.52% of Veracyte worth $14,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Veracyte by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter worth $107,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 7,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.09, for a total value of $361,086.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 318,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,003,015.27. The trade was a 2.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,739 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $463,173.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 67,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,922,488.80. The trade was a 13.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 134,635 shares of company stock worth $5,981,961 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veracyte Price Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $42.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.24 and a beta of 1.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.94. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.61 and a fifty-two week high of $50.71.

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

Veracyte Company 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.