QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 4,015 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 129,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $2,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Veracyte by 3.7% in the first 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 last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,118,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Veracyte by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,347,436 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,179,000 after acquiring an additional 242,760 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,190,000. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Veracyte by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 503,898 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,862,000 after purchasing an additional 122,574 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Veracyte

In related news, insider John Leite sold 1,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $31,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 82,968 shares in the company, valued at $2,074,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Veracyte news, Director Muna Bhanji sold 1,539 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $32,319.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,475. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 1,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $31,925.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 82,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,074,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,686 shares of company stock valued at $527,807 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VCYT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Veracyte from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Veracyte from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.50.

Veracyte Price Performance

Shares of Veracyte stock traded down $0.70 on Friday, hitting $29.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,911,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,299. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.66 and a 200-day moving average of $22.42. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.61 and a twelve month high of $30.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.14 and a beta of 1.65.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $114.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.27 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 13.52% and a positive return on equity of 1.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

About Veracyte

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.