Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 735,007 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 27,090 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.96% of Veracyte worth $25,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Veracyte by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,462 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Veracyte by 21.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Veracyte by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,806 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Veracyte in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $45,412.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 73,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,192,282.50. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,929,819.51. The trade was a 5.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,211 shares of company stock valued at $787,542. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.13. 1,076,598 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 771,204. The company's 50-day moving average is $36.50 and its 200-day moving average is $29.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -302.80 and a beta of 1.69. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. Veracyte's revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.