BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,810,000 shares, a growth of 22.0% from the June 30th total of 17,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy E. Mckee sold 8,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.32, for a total value of $54,352.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,891.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other BioCryst Pharmaceuticals news, Director Amy E. Mckee sold 8,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.32, for a total transaction of $54,352.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,891.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven K. Galson bought 21,940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.49 per share, for a total transaction of $120,450.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,014.99. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 103,601 shares of company stock valued at $596,338 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCRX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,392,319 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,978,000 after purchasing an additional 302,270 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 387.0% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 18,827 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 122,180 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 7,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MA Private Wealth acquired a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BCRX traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $7.85. The stock had a trading volume of 2,359,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,806,823. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $4.03 and a one year high of $7.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.75.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $92.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.28) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCRX has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.67.

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.