Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires New Position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 176,315 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,850,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Veracyte by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,810 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,141 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 34,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 96.2% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,862 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 36,463 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Veracyte Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Veracyte stock traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $20.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 463,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,949. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $30.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.76 and a beta of 1.65.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 20.61% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The business had revenue of $98.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.49 million. As a group, analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,156.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte 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.