Bamco Inc. NY Decreases Stake in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Bamco Inc. NY lowered its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 645,621 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 231,579 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY owned 0.82% of Veracyte worth $22,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 1.8% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,158 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Veracyte by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in Veracyte by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 17,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.14.

Veracyte Stock Up 3.9%

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $32.13 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 38.71 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.24.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.79 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total value of $185,099.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,740.20. The trade was a 4.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total transaction of $463,173.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 67,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,488.80. The trade was a 13.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 86,521 shares of company stock valued at $3,185,270 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Veracyte

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.