D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) by 37.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,263 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,173 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.15% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals worth $2,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,890,422 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $164,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583,826 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 58,291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 11,711 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,979,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,890,000 after purchasing an additional 91,998 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ BCRX opened at $10.33 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.93 and a beta of 1.08. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.92 and a fifty-two week high of $11.11.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $131.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $126.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCRX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush began coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (up from $11.00) on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.56.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Profile

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, develops oral small-molecule and protein therapeutics to treat rare diseases. The company markets peramivir injection, an intravenous neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza under the RAPIVAB, RAPIACTA, and PERAMIFLU names; and ORLADEYO, an oral serine protease inhibitor to treat hereditary angioedema.