Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 33.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,538 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 28,905 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Veracyte worth $2,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VCYT. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 116.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 833,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,017,000 after buying an additional 448,251 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,498,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 288.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 360,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,284,000 after buying an additional 268,000 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 276.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 301,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $10,268,000 after buying an additional 221,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the third quarter worth approximately $6,010,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,497 shares in the company, valued at $745,429.10. This trade represents a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.9 %

VCYT opened at $31.23 on Tuesday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $47.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of -208.20 and a beta of 1.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.69.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released 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 business 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 period last year, the firm earned ($0.39) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share 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.