Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Buys 1,501 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,964 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at $253,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 137,367 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,440,000 after buying an additional 14,791 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at $1,626,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Veracyte by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,276 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the fourth quarter valued at $1,179,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VCYT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Veracyte from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Veracyte in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Veracyte in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veracyte has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Karin Eastham sold 10,000 shares of Veracyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.30, for a total transaction of $403,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,429.10. This trade represents a 35.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Veracyte Stock Down 1.5 %

VCYT stock opened at $32.02 on Monday. Veracyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.61 and a twelve month high of $47.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -213.47 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.73.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The firm had revenue of $118.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veracyte Company Profile

Veracyte, Inc engages in the research, development and commercialization of diagnostic products. The firm’s portfolio includes Afirma, Percepta, and Envisia. It intends to treat thyroid cancer, improve lung cancer screening, and clarify the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company was founded by Bonnie H.