Zacks Investment Management Has $1.96 Million Position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 50.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 49,598 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 16,603 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in Veracyte by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,599,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $261,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,432 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 768.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 956,577 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,880,000 after buying an additional 846,487 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,211,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $325,180,000 after buying an additional 463,098 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 833,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,017,000 after buying an additional 448,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,224,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on VCYT. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Veracyte in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.60.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT opened at $31.14 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.15 and a 200-day moving average of $37.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -207.60 and a beta of 2.03. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.02 and a 1 year high of $47.32.

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