Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Invests $324,000 in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 9,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 3.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,384,871 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $163,649,000 after buying an additional 266,660 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,555 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 15,647 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Veracyte by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,060 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Veracyte by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 934,994 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $20,261,000 after purchasing an additional 19,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Veracyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,279,000.

Veracyte Stock Performance

VCYT opened at $42.89 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.61 and a fifty-two week high of $44.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.39 and a 200 day moving average of $28.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -285.93 and a beta of 1.67.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $115.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.81 million. Veracyte had a negative net margin of 2.18% and a positive return on equity of 3.02%. The company’s revenue was up 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Leite sold 5,479 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.78, for a total value of $163,164.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,174 shares in the company, valued at $2,268,461.72. This trade represents a 6.71 % 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, Director Evan/ Fa Jones sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $182,244.79. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,343 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,903.89. The trade was a 13.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VCYT. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partners increased their price target on Veracyte from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Veracyte from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Veracyte from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Veracyte from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.25.

Veracyte Company Profile

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.