Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Takes Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,318 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.05% of Veracyte as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in Veracyte by 20.7% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,321,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082,064 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,169,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,461 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Veracyte by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,519,710 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,078,000 after purchasing an additional 360,947 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Veracyte by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,071,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,974,000 after purchasing an additional 28,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Veracyte by 19.9% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 983,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $26,592,000 after buying an additional 163,049 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 7,668 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,003,015.27. This trade represents a 2.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 13,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $621,941.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,128,792.64. This represents a 10.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 68,299 shares of company stock valued at $3,102,756 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $36.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.82 and a beta of 1.91. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.61 and a 52-week high of $50.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $40.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.43.

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.