BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' (BCRX) Sell (D-) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• BioCryst Pharmaceuticals' stock has been reaffirmed with a sell (D-) rating by Weiss Ratings, contrasting with a recent upgrade to a strong-buy from Zacks Research and various other optimistic ratings from different analysts.
• Despite a recent 49.5% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, the company's stock trades at $7.21, significantly below its 1-year high of $11.31.
• Insider trading activity is notable, with Director Theresa Heggie selling 70,000 shares at an average price of $8.51, which reduced her ownership by over 51%.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reiterated by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BCRX. Zacks Research raised shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.18.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ BCRX traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $7.21. 3,901,899 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,938,629. The business's 50 day moving average is $7.73 and its 200-day moving average is $8.64. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $6.00 and a 1 year high of $11.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.05 and a beta of 1.05.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $163.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $149.59 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 49.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.06) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Theresa Heggie sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.51, for a total value of $595,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 65,352 shares in the company, valued at $556,145.52. This represents a 51.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCRX. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $90,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 69.9% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,745 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 35,290 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 35.0% during the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 113,004 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 29,300 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 38.7% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 59,925 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 16,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 326.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,590 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 8,109 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.

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