BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• BioCryst’s short interest fell 35.9% to 31.2 million shares as of July 15, representing about 12.8% of shares outstanding and 5.9 days to cover.
• Institutional investors broadly increased their positions, including Goldman Sachs, which raised its stake by 49.6%; institutions now own approximately 85.88% of BCRX.
• BCRX recently traded at $9.02, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $20.80. The company missed quarterly earnings expectations despite revenue growing 7.5% year over year.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 31,208,457 shares, a decline of 35.9% from the June 30th total of 48,685,241 shares. Approximately 12.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,245,936 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BCRX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,463 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 135,314 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 8,517 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 49.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,931,934 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $14,490,000 after buying an additional 640,704 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 448,466 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,363,000 after purchasing an additional 47,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of BCRX traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 707,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,013,729. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $6.00 and a 1 year high of $11.22. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.07 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.28 and a 200 day moving average of $8.63.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.98) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($3.04). The business had revenue of $156.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.12 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 51.71% and a negative return on equity of 76.36%. The company's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BCRX shares. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wedbush decreased their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.80.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, that focuses on the discovery and development of novel, oral small‐molecule medicines for rare and serious diseases. Since its founding in 1986, the company has leveraged structure‐based drug design to advance a pipeline of targeted therapeutics designed to address underlying disease mechanisms rather than just treat symptoms.

The company's first commercial product, Orladeyo (berotralstat), is an oral kallikrein inhibitor approved for the prophylactic treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in both the United States and Europe.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.