Boothbay Fund Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $BCRX

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management LLC has decreased its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 4.4%, selling 60,412 shares and owning about 0.63% of the company, valued at approximately $9.93 million.
• BioCryst Pharmaceuticals reported a 49.5% increase in revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $0.15, surpassing analyst expectations.
• Several investment firms, including Barclays and Bank of America, have raised their price targets for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, with a consensus price target now at $16.70.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,324,221 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 60,412 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned about 0.63% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals worth $9,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 68.1% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 161,516 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 65,420 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $79,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 82.4% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,148,969 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $16,117,000 after purchasing an additional 971,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 401,111 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,016,000 after purchasing an additional 11,581 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theresa Heggie sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.51, for a total transaction of $595,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $556,145.52. This represents a 51.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of BCRX traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.06. The company had a trading volume of 873,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,687,167. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.80, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.13. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.01 and a 52-week high of $11.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.74.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $163.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.06) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 49.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BCRX. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wedbush lifted 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.70.

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.