The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 849 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 2,331.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Veracyte by 168.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position 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 valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VCYT. 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. UBS Group upped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.13.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,903.89. This represents a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $45,412.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 73,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,192,282.50. This represents a 1.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock valued at $787,542. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veracyte Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of VCYT opened at $42.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -286.53 and a beta of 1.69. Veracyte, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.61 and a 52 week high of $46.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.13.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte 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.