394,963 Shares in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Acquired by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 394,963 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,559,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,712 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Veracyte by 12.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 195,793 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,805,000 after purchasing an additional 21,330 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 94.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 216,909 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,431,000 after purchasing an additional 105,499 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Veracyte by 54.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,762 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 15,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Veracyte by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 87,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,366,000 after purchasing an additional 8,214 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VCYT. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Veracyte from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.14.

Veracyte Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Veracyte stock opened at $35.63 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.77 and a beta of 1.91. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.61 and a 1-year high of $50.71.

Insider Activity

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 2,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $140,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 86,291 shares in the company, valued at $4,314,550. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 13,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total value of $621,941.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,128,792.64. This represents a 10.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,299 shares of company stock worth $2,679,156. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.