State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Takes Position in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 26,852 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 5,435 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 12.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 195,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after acquiring an additional 21,330 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Veracyte by 94.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,431,000 after acquiring an additional 105,499 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 54.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 15,017 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 32.2% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 48,786 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 11,889 shares during the period.

Veracyte Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of VCYT opened at $39.70 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.29. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.61 and a 52 week high of $50.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42 and a beta of 1.89.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.83.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,204 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.02, for a total transaction of $398,160.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 143,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,607,486.16. The trade was a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 131,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,741,423.44. The trade was a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 85,986 shares of company stock worth $3,120,257 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.