State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 28,105 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 61,354 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 28,105 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $2,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VCYT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Veracyte by 2,331.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the second quarter worth approximately $85,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $182,244.79. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,903.89. This trade represents a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,268,461.72. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT stock opened at $35.94 on Friday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $41.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of -239.60 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.50.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VCYT. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

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.