Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 463,098 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,211,612 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 463,098 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.60% of Veracyte worth $325,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Veracyte by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 714 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Veracyte by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,774 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Veracyte by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,872 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VCYT. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Veracyte from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.40.

Veracyte Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT traded down $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.88. 1,529,339 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 849,884. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $47.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of -192.53 and a beta of 2.03.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.39) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Veracyte

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.