Phocas Financial Corp. Invests $1.79 Million in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 52,519 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,788,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.07% of Veracyte at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $163,649,000 after acquiring an additional 266,660 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 46.3% in the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,115,806 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,726,000 after buying an additional 353,000 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Veracyte by 21.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 142,604 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,160,000 after buying an additional 24,945 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 21.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,555 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,897,000 after buying an additional 15,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Veracyte by 22.7% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,060 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,268,461.72. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim began coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.25.

Veracyte Price Performance

NASDAQ:VCYT traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.20. The stock had a trading volume of 631,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,378. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.96. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $18.61 and a one year high of $41.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -260.47 and a beta of 1.67.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. Veracyte's quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About Veracyte

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.