First Horizon Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veracyte by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,649,000 after purchasing an additional 266,660 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Veracyte by 21.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,555 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after buying an additional 15,647 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Veracyte by 22.7% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Veracyte by 2.1% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 934,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,261,000 after acquiring an additional 19,244 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth $12,279,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VCYT shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.25.

Veracyte Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of VCYT opened at $39.59 on Monday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.61 and a 12-month high of $41.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of -263.93 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.89 and its 200 day moving average is $28.30.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other news, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,903.89. This represents a 13.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total transaction of $163,164.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,268,461.72. This trade represents a 6.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.