Pura Vida Investments LLC Purchases 159,106 Shares of OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX)

Pura Vida Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX - Free Report) by 32.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 654,451 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 159,106 shares during the quarter. OncoCyte makes up about 4.9% of Pura Vida Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Pura Vida Investments LLC owned approximately 3.89% of OncoCyte worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Separately, FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of OncoCyte by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 49,377 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the last quarter. 55.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on OCX shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of OncoCyte in a research report on Monday. They set a "sell" rating for the company. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on OncoCyte in a report on Friday. They set a "buy" rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of OncoCyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $4.25 price target on shares of OncoCyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, OncoCyte presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.56.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other OncoCyte news, CFO Andrea S. James purchased 97,561 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.05 per share, with a total value of $200,000.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 151,231 shares in the company, valued at $310,023.55. This trade represents a 181.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Patrick W. Smith acquired 1,077,600 shares of OncoCyte stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.05 per share, with a total value of $2,209,080.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly 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. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 1,185,625 shares of company stock worth $2,430,510. 1.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

OncoCyte Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OCX traded down $0.15 on Monday, hitting $3.06. 68,567 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 65,149. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $2.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.72. OncoCyte Co. has a 1-year low of $1.92 and a 1-year high of $4.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.51 million, a P/E ratio of -0.70 and a beta of 0.79.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.16 million. On average, equities analysts predict that OncoCyte Co. will post -2.57 EPS 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.