Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 90,216 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,215,946 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 90,216 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.66% of Veracyte worth $33,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Veracyte by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 40,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 4,277 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Veracyte by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 118,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Veracyte by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 27,297 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,097 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,872,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 476,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $10,637,000 after buying an additional 132,310 shares during the period.

Veracyte Price Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $22.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.34. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.61 and a fifty-two week high of $30.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.98 and a beta of 1.70.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.17. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 18.16% and a negative return on equity of 1.42%. The business had revenue of $96.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,156.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $717,156.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Muna Bhanji sold 3,870 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.32, for a total transaction of $78,638.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,493.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,909 shares of company stock valued at $379,882. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $33.00 to $27.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Veracyte 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.