Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 329.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 51,362 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Veracyte were worth $2,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VCYT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,774 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $123,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,429.10. The trade was a 35.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.22.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $33.69 on Wednesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $18.61 and a one year high of $47.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -224.60 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.78.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.39) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.