Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Purchases New Holdings in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 279,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,498,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.36% of Veracyte at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 168.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 951 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 37.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,367 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 2,331.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 12.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 281,810 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,107,000 after purchasing an additional 31,613 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 18.7% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,065 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter.

Veracyte Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VCYT opened at $43.33 on Tuesday. 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 $37.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of -288.87 and a beta of 1.69.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.03) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.23, for a total transaction of $302,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 114,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,929,819.51. This represents a 5.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,903.89. This represents a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,211 shares of company stock worth $787,542. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on VCYT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their target price on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.13.

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.