Erste Asset Management GmbH Takes $574,000 Position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 2,331.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Veracyte by 168.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $85,000.

Veracyte Stock Down 2.8 %

Veracyte stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.84. The company had a trading volume of 763,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,942. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -293.93 and a beta of 1.69. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.61 and a 1 year high of $44.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.31 and a 200 day moving average of $29.47.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The business 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 company's revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $182,244.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total value of $41,452.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,270 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. This represents 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 valued at $787,542 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.13.

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.