OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday. The firm set a "sell" rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of OncoCyte in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $4.25 price target on shares of OncoCyte in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on shares of OncoCyte in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. One investment 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.56.

OncoCyte Stock Performance

OCX stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.84. 3,413 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 66,461. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.19 million, a PE ratio of -0.65 and a beta of 0.97. OncoCyte has a 52 week low of $1.92 and a 52 week high of $4.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.71.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of OncoCyte

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCX. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in OncoCyte by 15.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of OncoCyte during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of OncoCyte by 12.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,980 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 11,289 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in OncoCyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in OncoCyte in the fourth quarter worth approximately $126,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.35% of the company's stock.

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.