Granite Investment Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 934,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 19,244 shares during the quarter. Veracyte makes up approximately 0.8% of Granite Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned about 1.22% of Veracyte worth $20,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VCYT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Veracyte by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 698,418 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,213,000 after buying an additional 14,066 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Veracyte by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,372,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $92,787,000 after purchasing an additional 161,073 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Veracyte by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 51,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 6,565 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter worth about $11,190,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 63,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,755,000 after purchasing an additional 3,696 shares during the period.

Veracyte Trading Up 4.4 %

VCYT stock opened at $35.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.44 and a 200-day moving average of $23.77. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.61 and a 12 month high of $35.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.50 and a beta of 1.66.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $114.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $100.27 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 13.52% and a positive return on equity of 1.52%. Veracyte’s revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, Director Karin Eastham sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $187,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,700. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 7,500 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $187,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,277 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $31,925.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 82,968 shares in the company, valued at $2,074,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,745 shares of company stock valued at $1,217,296 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

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.