Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 11,078 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 261,214 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,078 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $10,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VCYT. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Veracyte in the second quarter worth $58,000. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at $87,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at about $91,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Veracyte by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,677 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Veracyte by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,778 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VCYT. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price target on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.13.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,429.10. This trade represents a 35.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jonathan Wygant sold 5,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.89, for a total value of $215,822.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,814,804.57. This represents a 10.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,038 shares of company stock worth $1,008,297. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Veracyte Stock Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:VCYT opened at $43.78 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.61 and a 12-month high of $46.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -291.87 and a beta of 1.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The company’s revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Veracyte Profile

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.