BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Stock Price Up 5.3% – Here’s What Happened

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) was up 5.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $7.10 and last traded at $7.1060. Approximately 441,140 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 4,966,618 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on BCRX shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $7.30 and its 200-day moving average is $7.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.80.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The biotechnology company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $159.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.91 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 4.24% and a negative net margin of 1.46%.The firm’s revenue was up 36.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 21,773 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.65, for a total transaction of $166,563.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 398,751 shares in the company, valued at $3,050,445.15. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 183,453 shares of company stock worth $1,330,965. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,463 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 135,314 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 8,517 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 49.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,931,934 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,490,000 after buying an additional 640,704 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $314,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 11.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 448,466 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,363,000 after buying an additional 47,355 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, that focuses on the discovery and development of novel, oral small‐molecule medicines for rare and serious diseases. Since its founding in 1986, the company has leveraged structure‐based drug design to advance a pipeline of targeted therapeutics designed to address underlying disease mechanisms rather than just treat symptoms.

The company’s first commercial product, Orladeyo (berotralstat), is an oral kallikrein inhibitor approved for the prophylactic treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in both the United States and Europe.