Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Purchases 9,148 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. grew its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 100.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,213 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,148 shares during the quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 159.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 146.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.40, for a total transaction of $1,089,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 45,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,703.60. This represents a 34.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert S. Epstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.01, for a total transaction of $440,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,446 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,148.46. This trade represents a 16.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VCYT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Veracyte from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.88.

Veracyte Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $59.13 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.61 and a 12 month high of $60.91. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 54.25 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.41.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.Veracyte’s revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.