Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 14,307 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,515 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 14,307 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Veracyte worth $3,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 16.6% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,370,467 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $253,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048,692 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at $13,559,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Veracyte by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 26,667 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,504,088 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $291,945,000 after purchasing an additional 403,737 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, CEO Marc Stapley sold 7,668 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.09, for a total value of $361,086.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 318,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,003,015.27. The trade was a 2.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $616,029.30. The trade was a 59.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,385 shares of company stock worth $2,483,179 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Down 2.6%

VCYT stock opened at $35.08 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.55 and a 200 day moving average of $38.03. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.61 and a twelve month high of $50.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 42.27 and a beta of 1.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $140.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.79 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 12.83%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Veracyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.71.

About Veracyte

Veracyte, Inc is a genomic diagnostics company focused on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient care through advanced molecular testing. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company develops and commercializes minimally invasive genomic tests that aid in the diagnosis of thyroid, lung and other diseases. Veracyte’s proprietary platform analyzes gene expression patterns in clinical samples to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions, reducing unnecessary surgeries and improving patient outcomes.

The company’s flagship product, the Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier, is designed to assess thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology, helping clinicians distinguish benign from suspicious nodules.