BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:BCRX)

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 6,158 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 593% compared to the average daily volume of 888 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.50.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of BCRX stock opened at $8.73 on Friday. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $4.03 and a one year high of $9.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $7.70 and a 200-day moving average of $7.71. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.31 and a beta of 1.75.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07). The business had revenue of $117.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BCRX. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,483 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 80.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,198 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $80,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.