Candriam S.C.A. Invests $21.77 Million in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $BCRX

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. opened a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter, buying 2.29 million shares valued at about $21.77 million. The stake represented roughly 0.90% of the company.
• Institutional ownership in BioCryst remains high, with hedge funds and asset managers including Vanguard and BNP Paribas also increasing or adding to their holdings. Overall, institutions own about 85.88% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with eight Buy ratings and three Hold ratings, and a consensus price target of $21.78. However, BioCryst recently reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss of $2.98 EPS despite revenue coming in above estimates.

Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,286,841 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $21,771,000. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.90% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $1,956,000. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,126,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,273,375 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $173,732,000 after acquiring an additional 482,494 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,542,714 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $19,833,000 after acquiring an additional 448,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 106.5% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 233,354 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 120,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.78.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BCRX traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,359,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,231,274. The firm has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.87 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.14 and a 200-day moving average of $8.44. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.00 and a 12 month high of $11.22.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.98) earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $151.12 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 51.71% and a negative return on equity of 76.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.