Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Shares Purchased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 768.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 956,577 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 846,487 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 1.23% of Veracyte worth $37,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $782,000. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 155,338 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,150,000 after purchasing an additional 8,936 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 23,132 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC grew its holdings in Veracyte by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 577,684 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $22,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VCYT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.60.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $32.00. The stock had a trading volume of 107,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 860,201. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.09 and a twelve month high of $47.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -213.42 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.31.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $118.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.39) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm's portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.