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

Pura Vida Investments LLC raised its holdings in OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX - Free Report) by 32.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 654,451 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 159,106 shares during the period. OncoCyte makes up about 4.9% of Pura Vida Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Pura Vida Investments LLC owned approximately 3.89% of OncoCyte worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Separately, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised 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 valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares in the last quarter. 55.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OncoCyte Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OCX traded down $0.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $2.90. 83,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 65,772. OncoCyte Co. has a 1-year low of $1.92 and a 1-year high of $4.75. The company has a market capitalization of $82.94 million, a P/E ratio of -0.66 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50 day moving average is $2.85 and its 200-day moving average is $2.72.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.16 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that OncoCyte Co. will post -2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at OncoCyte

In related news, CFO Andrea S. James bought 97,561 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $2.05 per share, with a total value of $200,000.05. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 151,231 shares of the company's stock, valued at $310,023.55. This represents a 181.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Patrick W. Smith purchased 1,077,600 shares of OncoCyte stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $2.05 per share, for a total transaction of $2,209,080.00. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders acquired a total of 1,185,625 shares of company stock worth $2,430,510 in the last quarter. 1.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on OCX shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of OncoCyte in a research note on Monday. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock. 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. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on OncoCyte in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of OncoCyte in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OncoCyte currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.56.

OncoCyte Company Profile

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.