BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.70.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BCRX shares. Wedbush upped their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 30th.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of BCRX opened at $8.27 on Friday. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $6.01 and a 52 week high of $11.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.94, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $8.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.77.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $163.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.59 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.06) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BioCryst Pharmaceuticals news, Director Theresa Heggie sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.51, for a total transaction of $595,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $556,145.52. This represents a 51.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Mariner LLC boosted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $748,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,004,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,077,000 after buying an additional 143,986 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 839,274 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,311,000 after buying an additional 52,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

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.