BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Trading Up 6% – Here’s What Happened

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) traded up 6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.50 and last traded at $9.5650. 779,848 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 5,432,567 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BCRX. Weiss Ratings raised BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright increased 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore initiated coverage on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.64.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.53. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.70.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $1.12 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.13) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 209.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 150,000 shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.15, for a total transaction of $1,372,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 400,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,666,432.45. This trade represents a 27.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,463 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 49.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 640,704 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $314,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 11.8% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 47,355 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.