OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 373,800 shares, an increase of 22.4% from the February 28th total of 305,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 89,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Patrick W. Smith acquired 1,077,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.05 per share, for a total transaction of $2,209,080.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 2,872,671 shares in the company, valued at $5,888,975.55. This represents a 60.03 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrea S. James purchased 97,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.05 per share, for a total transaction of $200,000.05. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,231 shares in the company, valued at $310,023.55. This represents a 181.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,185,625 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,510. 1.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of OncoCyte

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in OncoCyte by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in OncoCyte in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of OncoCyte by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 11,289 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in OncoCyte during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in OncoCyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $126,000. Institutional investors own 55.35% of the company’s stock.

OncoCyte Trading Down 2.0 %

OncoCyte stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,223. The stock has a market cap of $84.08 million, a PE ratio of -0.67 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $2.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.72. OncoCyte has a 52 week low of $1.92 and a 52 week high of $4.75.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 24th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $1.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.16 million. OncoCyte had a negative net margin of 6,122.29% and a negative return on equity of 269.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that OncoCyte will post -2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on OncoCyte in a report on Monday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on shares of OncoCyte in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $4.25 target price on shares of OncoCyte in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of OncoCyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OncoCyte currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.56.

OncoCyte Company Profile

OncoCyte Corporation, a precision diagnostics company, focuses on development and commercialization of proprietary tests in the United States and internationally. The company is developing DetermaIO, a gene expression test that assesses the tumor microenvironment to predict response to immunotherapies; DetermaCNI, a blood-based monitoring tool for monitoring therapeutic efficacy in cancer patients; and VitaGraft, a blood-based solid organ transplantation monitoring test.