BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Trading 6% Higher – What’s Next?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCRX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore initiated coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.64.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.7%

The stock has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.53.

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

Insider Activity at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 150,000 shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.15, for a total value of $1,372,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 400,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,666,432.45. This trade represents a 27.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RA Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $123,452,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. lifted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 159.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 12,169,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $92,363,000 after acquiring an additional 7,477,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7,807.2% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,404,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $57,791,000 after purchasing an additional 7,310,745 shares during the last quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $24,668,000. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,017,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.