Commerce Bank Cuts Stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Commerce Bank cut its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,462 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 479 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,649,000 after buying an additional 266,660 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,241,671 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $26,907,000 after purchasing an additional 500,020 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 934,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,261,000 after purchasing an additional 19,244 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 1.2% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 625,536 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,555,000 after purchasing an additional 7,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the second quarter valued at about $12,279,000.

Veracyte Trading Up 4.2 %

Veracyte stock opened at $42.84 on Wednesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.61 and a 12-month high of $42.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of -285.60 and a beta of 1.67.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,903.89. The trade was a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total value of $163,164.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.25.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc operates as a diagnostics company in the United States and internationally. The company offers Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier for cancerous thyroid nodules; Decipher Prostate Biopsy and Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer diagnosis; Prosigna Breast Cancer Assay for breast cancer diagnosis; Percepta Nasal Swab Test for lung cancer diagnosis; and Envisia Genomic Classifier for diagnosing interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.