BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:BCRX)

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 2,675 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 174% compared to the typical daily volume of 975 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BCRX. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $32,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 1,161.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,918 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 5,449 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $13.00 price target (up previously from $11.00) on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $16.56.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,606,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,991,433. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $5.23 and a 52-week high of $11.11. The firm's 50 day moving average is $7.87 and its 200 day moving average is $7.89. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of -16.36 and a beta of 1.08.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $131.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $126.64 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 40.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.36 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.