BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BCRX. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.56.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $10.21 on Wednesday. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $5.92 and a 52-week high of $11.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.74 and a beta of 1.08.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $131.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $126.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PDT Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 778,729 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 256,439 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,463 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 136,103 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 38,846 shares during the period. Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,516,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $191,000. 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.