Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 375,890 Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) by 1,058.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 411,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 375,890 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals worth $3,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BCRX. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C boosted its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 62.9% in the second quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 8,135,804 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $50,279,000 after acquiring an additional 3,140,804 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,837,985 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,776,000 after purchasing an additional 127,708 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,338,062 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,369,000 after purchasing an additional 481,359 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,181,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,576,000 after purchasing an additional 261,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 2,163,743 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,444,000 after buying an additional 84,102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of BCRX opened at $7.70 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of -12.62 and a beta of 1.76. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.03 and a 1-year high of $8.88.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $117.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.99 million. The firm’s revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCRX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.60.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.