BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.70.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore assumed coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush decreased their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:BCRX opened at $8.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.06. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of -4.72 and a beta of 0.57. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $6.00 and a 52-week high of $11.23.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $156.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.12 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 76.36% and a negative net margin of 51.71%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 400,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,666,432.45. The trade was a 27.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $976,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 52,326 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 135.1% in the first quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 7,434,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,772,000 after purchasing an additional 4,271,504 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 231.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,091,765 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,556,208 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 20.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 8,908,506 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $84,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.