Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 13,351.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,517 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,305 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Veracyte were worth $971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 87.0% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,021 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 2,336 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter worth $574,000. Bellevue Group AG acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter worth $123,000. PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter valued at $2,382,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at about $326,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on VCYT shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim started coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.13.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total transaction of $302,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,929,819.51. This trade represents a 5.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total transaction of $41,452.16. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. The trade was a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,211 shares of company stock worth $787,542 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT stock traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,076,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 877,167. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of -294.20 and a beta of 1.69. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $36.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.77. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $46.00.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Veracyte Company 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.