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

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCRX. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,658 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 3,772 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 560.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,598 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 5,599 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,483 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, Natixis grew its stake in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 400.6% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 11,684 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 9,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

BCRX opened at $7.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.41 and a beta of 1.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $7.66 and its 200 day moving average is $7.20. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.03 and a fifty-two week high of $8.88.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.07). The business had revenue of $117.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $113.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BCRX shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com upgraded BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.60.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Company 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.