Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Buys 325,959 Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $BCRX

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,230,105 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 325,959 shares during the quarter. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 1.2% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals were worth $21,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 1,188.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,542 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,267 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,231 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,115 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $98,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $81,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of BCRX stock opened at $9.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.22 and a 200-day moving average of $8.57. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $6.00 and a one year high of $11.22.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.98) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($3.04). The firm had revenue of $156.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.12 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 76.36% and a negative net margin of 51.71%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BCRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Wedbush decreased their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.80.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, that focuses on the discovery and development of novel, oral small‐molecule medicines for rare and serious diseases. Since its founding in 1986, the company has leveraged structure‐based drug design to advance a pipeline of targeted therapeutics designed to address underlying disease mechanisms rather than just treat symptoms.

The company’s first commercial product, Orladeyo (berotralstat), is an oral kallikrein inhibitor approved for the prophylactic treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in both the United States and Europe.