Investors Buy Large Volume of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Call Options (NASDAQ:BCRX)

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 9,003 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 202% compared to the average daily volume of 2,984 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BCRX. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore initiated coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.64.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BCRX opened at $9.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.70. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $6.00 and a fifty-two week high of $11.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.52.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $1.05. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 30.16% and a negative return on equity of 84.33%. The firm had revenue of $163.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 209.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.15, for a total transaction of $1,372,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 400,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,666,432.45. This trade represents a 27.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BCRX. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 1,188.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,542 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,267 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 326.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,590 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 8,109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.