Short Interest in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Drops By 10.7%

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,290,000 shares, a decline of 10.7% from the November 30th total of 19,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BCRX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCRX. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C increased its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 8,135,804 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,279,000 after acquiring an additional 3,140,804 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,837,985 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,776,000 after purchasing an additional 127,708 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 481,359 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,181,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,576,000 after purchasing an additional 261,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $7.51. 991,457 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,810,686. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.31 and a beta of 1.79. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $4.03 and a 52-week high of $8.88.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07). The business had revenue of $117.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

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.