AlphaQuest LLC Has $823,000 Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 198.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,959 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,928 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 20.7% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,321,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $170,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,064 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 770.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 897,387 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,256,000 after acquiring an additional 794,307 shares in the last quarter. Soleus Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth $19,338,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 31.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 360,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at about $8,518,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.14.

Veracyte Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $38.16 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.18 and its 200 day moving average is $36.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.42 and a beta of 1.91. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.61 and a 12 month high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. Veracyte had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The business had revenue of $131.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other news, Director Jens Holstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.36, for a total transaction of $423,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 27,199 shares in the company, valued at $1,152,149.64. This represents a 26.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $616,029.30. This trade represents a 59.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,635 shares of company stock worth $5,981,961. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.