Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 1,406 Shares of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,084 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 6,599,264 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $261,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,432 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Veracyte by 768.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 956,577 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,880,000 after buying an additional 846,487 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Veracyte by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,211,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $325,180,000 after acquiring an additional 463,098 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veracyte by 116.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 833,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,017,000 after acquiring an additional 448,251 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth $16,224,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Craig Hallum began coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.60.

Veracyte Price Performance

VCYT stock opened at $30.80 on Thursday. Veracyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.73 and a 12 month high of $47.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -205.32 and a beta of 2.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.12.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.11). Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. The business had revenue of $114.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Veracyte, Inc. will post 0.68 earnings per share for the current 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.