QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 106,926 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 106,926 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Veracyte in the second quarter worth $25,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 289.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter worth about $107,000.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In related news, SVP Annie Mcguire sold 10,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.13, for a total value of $463,173.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,922,488.80. This represents a 13.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 13,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $621,941.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 109,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,128,792.64. This trade represents a 10.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,635 shares of company stock valued at $5,981,961. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $41.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 109.71 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.59. Veracyte, Inc. has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $131.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.62 million. Veracyte had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 6.12%.The company’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VCYT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.14.

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.