Insider Buying: The BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) Senior VP & CFO Just Bought 60% More Shares

Simply Wall St
·3 min read

Investors who take an interest in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) should definitely note that the Senior VP & CFO, Anthony Doyle, recently paid US$12.48 per share to buy US$440k worth of the stock. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 60%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

View our latest analysis for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Anthony Doyle was the biggest purchase of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$12.45. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 42.76k shares worth US$531k. On the other hand they divested 10.00k shares, for US$134k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$19m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest BioCryst Pharmaceuticals insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that BioCryst Pharmaceuticals is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is concerning...

Of course BioCryst Pharmaceuticals may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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