32,690 Shares in Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT Purchased by Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors

Westview Management dba Westview Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 32,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,376,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VCYT. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 1.8% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,158 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Veracyte by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 71,095 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in Veracyte by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 17,991 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Veracyte by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,732 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veracyte

In other news, CFO Rebecca Chambers sold 18,341 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.14, for a total transaction of $662,843.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 131,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,741,423.44. This trade represents a 12.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total transaction of $185,099.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 107,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,740.20. The trade was a 4.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 75,782 shares of company stock valued at $2,722,097 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VCYT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Veracyte from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.17.

Veracyte Trading Down 2.9%

VCYT opened at $31.84 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.33. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $50.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.36 and a beta of 1.91.

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

About Veracyte

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.