Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) Stock Position Reduced by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 86,182 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,848 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Veracyte were worth $3,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte in the 4th quarter worth approximately $580,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 146,402 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,983,000 after acquiring an additional 85,033 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 833,754 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,017,000 after acquiring an additional 448,251 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Veracyte during the 4th quarter worth $693,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Veracyte by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VCYT shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Veracyte from $49.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Craig Hallum started coverage on Veracyte in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Veracyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut Veracyte from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Veracyte from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veracyte presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.90.

Veracyte Trading Up 2.5%

VCYT opened at $29.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -194.67 and a beta of 2.14. Veracyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.73 and a 1 year high of $47.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.96.

Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.73 million. Veracyte had a positive return on equity of 3.02% and a negative net margin of 2.18%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.39) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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.