Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 11,078 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 261,214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,078 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.34% of Veracyte worth $10,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter worth $87,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at about $91,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,429.10. The trade was a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.36, for a total transaction of $41,452.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,107.20. This represents a 2.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,038 shares of company stock worth $1,008,297. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.13.

Veracyte Price Performance

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.78 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -291.87 and a beta of 1.71. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.61 and a 52-week high of $46.00.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.