Short Interest in OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX) Expands By 22.4%

OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 373,800 shares, an increase of 22.4% from the February 28th total of 305,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 89,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrea S. James purchased 97,561 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $2.05 per share, for a total transaction of $200,000.05. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,231 shares of the company's stock, valued at $310,023.55. The trade was a 181.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Patrick W. Smith acquired 1,077,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.05 per share, for a total transaction of $2,209,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,872,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,888,975.55. The trade was a 60.03 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 1,185,625 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,510 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.58% of the company's stock.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On OncoCyte

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in OncoCyte during the fourth quarter worth about $126,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OncoCyte in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Broadwood Capital Inc. grew its holdings in OncoCyte by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 6,244,405 shares of the company's stock worth $14,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,339 shares during the period. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in OncoCyte in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in OncoCyte by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 137,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 33,089 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OCX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $4.25 price target on shares of OncoCyte in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of OncoCyte in a research report on Sunday. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of OncoCyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on OncoCyte in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.56.

OncoCyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCX traded down $0.02 on Monday, reaching $2.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,395. OncoCyte has a 52-week low of $1.92 and a 52-week high of $4.75. The stock's 50-day moving average is $2.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.65 million, a P/E ratio of -0.63 and a beta of 0.97.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.88. OncoCyte had a negative return on equity of 269.32% and a negative net margin of 6,122.29%. The company had revenue of $1.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.16 million. Equities analysts forecast that OncoCyte will post -2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About OncoCyte

OncoCyte Corporation, a precision diagnostics company, focuses on development and commercialization of proprietary tests in the United States and internationally. The company is developing DetermaIO, a gene expression test that assesses the tumor microenvironment to predict response to immunotherapies; DetermaCNI, a blood-based monitoring tool for monitoring therapeutic efficacy in cancer patients; and VitaGraft, a blood-based solid organ transplantation monitoring test.