Zacks Investment Management Makes New $1.12 Million Investment in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 32,995 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,123,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Veracyte by 11.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,041 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 4,256 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 37.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,703 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 2,367 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Veracyte by 22.7% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,060 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Veracyte by 2,331.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 5,032 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total transaction of $215,822.48. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,814,804.57. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 $4,929,819.51. This represents a 5.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock worth $787,542 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Veracyte in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.13.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.98. 749,435 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 772,503. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $46.00. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $37.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -286.53 and a beta of 1.69.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The firm's revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS 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.