BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Stock Price Up 5.3% – Still a Buy?

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX)’s stock price was up 5.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $7.10 and last traded at $7.1060. Approximately 441,140 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 4,966,618 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BCRX. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.0%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -137.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.80.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The biotechnology company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.01). BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 4.24% and a negative net margin of 1.46%.The business had revenue of $159.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 36.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 91,004 shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.10, for a total transaction of $646,128.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 416,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,954,679.20. This trade represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 183,453 shares of company stock worth $1,330,965 over the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 17,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings 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 period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 112,128 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterweight Ventures LLC raised its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 95,384 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.