Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX)

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has reiterated its "buy" rating for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) with a price target of $17.00, suggesting a potential upside of 94.73% from the previous close.
• BioCryst Pharmaceuticals reported a 49.5% year-over-year increase in revenue for the last quarter, achieving $163.35 million compared to consensus estimates of $149.59 million.
• The stock is currently up 9.8% at $8.73, while research analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average price target of $16.70.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $17.00 target price on the biotechnology company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target suggests a potential upside of 94.73% from the company's previous close.

BCRX has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wedbush increased their price target 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. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.70.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 9.8%

NASDAQ BCRX traded up $0.78 during trading on Monday, hitting $8.73. 9,701,939 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,921,997. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $6.01 and a 12-month high of $11.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $80,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 57,190 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $299,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,890,422 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $164,616,000 after buying an additional 1,583,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,947,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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