BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Short Interest Down 18.0% in June

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 29,670,000 shares, a drop of 18.0% from the May 31st total of 36,180,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alan G. Levin bought 7,861 shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.36 per share, for a total transaction of $49,995.96. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 44,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,888.36. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Helen M. Thackray bought 30,000 shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.86 per share, for a total transaction of $175,800.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 272,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,594,734.54. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alan G. Levin bought 7,861 shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.36 per share, with a total value of $49,995.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 44,951 shares in the company, valued at $285,888.36. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 103,601 shares of company stock worth $596,338. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,392,319 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,978,000 after purchasing an additional 302,270 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,278,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 955,587 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,724,000 after buying an additional 147,699 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 5,718,477 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $34,254,000 after buying an additional 355,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 68.0% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 89,614 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 36,284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.18. 8,094,588 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,306,997. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $4.03 and a 12 month high of $7.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.63.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $92.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.62 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.28) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.66 earnings per share for the current year.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Company 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.