Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 53,990 Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $BCRX

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 430,558 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,990 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,267 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,115 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $9.74 on Wednesday. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.00 and a twelve month high of $11.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 0.55.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($3.04). BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 51.71% and a negative return on equity of 76.36%. The business had revenue of $156.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BCRX. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, July 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.80.

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.