OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX) Short Interest Update

OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 373,800 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the February 28th total of 305,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 89,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Patrick W. Smith bought 1,077,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.05 per share, with a total value of $2,209,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,872,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,888,975.55. This represents a 60.03 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrea S. James purchased 97,561 shares of OncoCyte stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.05 per share, for a total transaction of $200,000.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $310,023.55. This trade represents a 181.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 1,185,625 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,510 in the last ninety days. 1.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OncoCyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCX. Broadwood Capital Inc. lifted its position in OncoCyte by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 6,244,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,339 shares during the period. Pura Vida Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of OncoCyte by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Pura Vida Investments LLC now owns 654,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 159,106 shares during the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OncoCyte during the fourth quarter worth $126,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in OncoCyte by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 137,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 33,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in OncoCyte during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.35% of the company’s stock.

OncoCyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCX opened at $3.00 on Thursday. OncoCyte has a 52 week low of $1.92 and a 52 week high of $4.75. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.72. The company has a market cap of $85.80 million, a PE ratio of -0.68 and a beta of 0.79.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.88. The firm had revenue of $1.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.16 million. OncoCyte had a negative return on equity of 269.32% and a negative net margin of 6,122.29%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that OncoCyte will post -2.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on OCX. StockNews.com began coverage on OncoCyte in a research note on Monday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $4.25 target price on shares of OncoCyte in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of OncoCyte in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on OncoCyte in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.56.

OncoCyte Company Profile

OncoCyte Corporation, a precision diagnostics company, focuses on development and commercialization of proprietary tests in the United States and internationally. The company is developing DetermaIO, a gene expression test that assesses the tumor microenvironment to predict response to immunotherapies; DetermaCNI, a blood-based monitoring tool for monitoring therapeutic efficacy in cancer patients; and VitaGraft, a blood-based solid organ transplantation monitoring test.