Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Shares Sold by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 237,715 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 34,882 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.30% of Veracyte worth $10,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VCYT. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Veracyte by 289.9% during 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. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Veracyte in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 146.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Veracyte by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In other Veracyte news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total transaction of $185,099.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,740.20. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total value of $662,843.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 131,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,741,423.44. This represents a 12.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,782 shares of company stock worth $2,722,097. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VCYT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Veracyte from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veracyte currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.20.

Veracyte Price Performance

NASDAQ VCYT opened at $32.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.51 and a beta of 1.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.31. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.61 and a 12 month high of $50.71.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $140.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.79 million. Veracyte had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 EPS for the current year.

Veracyte Company 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.