Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $92.79 Million Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,881,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,614 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $92,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 159.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Veracyte by 146.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 13,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $699,728.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 132,305 shares in the company, valued at $6,624,511.35. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 138,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.12, for a total transaction of $6,919,116.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 440,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,077,559.28. The trade was a 23.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 206,696 shares of company stock valued at $10,079,058 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VCYT shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Veracyte from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.88.

Veracyte Stock Up 0.1%

VCYT opened at $55.71 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.11 and a beta of 1.93. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.92 and a 12-month high of $60.91.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.18. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company had revenue of $139.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Veracyte Profile

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.