BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Stock Price Up 3.7% – Here’s Why

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) shares shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $7.95 and last traded at $7.98. 1,042,637 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 2,741,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BCRX shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.57.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.08 and a beta of 1.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.82.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $131.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $126.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 40.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCRX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,890,422 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583,826 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP boosted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 1,980,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,907 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 65,213.3% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 542,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,077,000 after acquiring an additional 541,270 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,983,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,947,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.