ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,470 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,872 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,118,000. Granahan Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veracyte by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 503,898 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,862,000 after purchasing an additional 122,574 shares in the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 237,316 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,529,000 after purchasing an additional 11,444 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,118,211 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $195,822,000 after buying an additional 52,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Veracyte by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,323 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Veracyte from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.25.

Veracyte Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $32.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of -35.07 and a beta of 1.66. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.44 and its 200 day moving average is $24.56. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $35.51.

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

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 33,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,700. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,903.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karin Eastham sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $187,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $830,700. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,918 shares of company stock worth $1,399,541 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veracyte Company 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.