New York State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 22,400 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. $VCYT

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 123.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,524 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Veracyte by 289.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,201 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Veracyte during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Veracyte by 146.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter.

Veracyte Price Performance

Veracyte stock opened at $40.42 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.54 and its 200 day moving average is $38.23. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.61 and a 1-year high of $50.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.08 and a beta of 1.89.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biotechnology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.18. Veracyte had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company had revenue of $139.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. Veracyte’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Veracyte, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VCYT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veracyte in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded Veracyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Veracyte in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Veracyte from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $48.00 to $37.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Insider Activity at Veracyte

In related news, insider John Leite sold 5,260 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.19, for a total value of $185,099.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 107,580 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,740.20. The trade was a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Stapley sold 45,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.97, for a total transaction of $1,637,462.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 357,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,861,217.38. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,986 shares of company stock worth $3,120,257. 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.