BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Trading 9.1% Higher – Should You Buy?

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX)’s share price traded up 9.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $8.80 and last traded at $8.83. 465,502 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 2,361,642 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCRX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.44 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.71.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07). The business had revenue of $117.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.99 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Counterweight Ventures LLC increased its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 591.7% in the 3rd quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 93,384 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 79,884 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 299,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,274,000 after buying an additional 86,571 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 1,058.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 411,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 375,890 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 2,163,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,444,000 after buying an additional 84,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 16.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,338,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,369,000 after acquiring an additional 481,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

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.