Short Interest in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Increases By 23.5%

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,770,000 shares, a growth of 23.5% from the February 28th total of 16,010,000 shares. Currently, 10.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCRX. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 80.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,198 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $80,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (up previously from $10.00) on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.57.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BCRX opened at $7.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.82. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $4.03 and a 12-month high of $9.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.29 and a beta of 1.85.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $131.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $126.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 40.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.