Plato Investment Management Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 432.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,912 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Veracyte by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,774 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VCYT. StockNews.com cut Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total value of $403,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,429.10. This trade represents a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of VCYT stock opened at $34.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -227.40 and a beta of 1.80. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.61 and a 1-year high of $47.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.72.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

About Veracyte

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.