OncoCyte’s (OCX) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $4.25 price objective on the stock.

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on OncoCyte in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

OncoCyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCX opened at $3.22 on Tuesday. OncoCyte has a 1 year low of $1.92 and a 1 year high of $4.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.20 million, a P/E ratio of -0.73 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.73.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $0.16 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that OncoCyte will post -2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrea S. James purchased 97,561 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 trade represents a 181.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Patrick W. Smith acquired 1,077,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $5,888,975.55. This trade represents a 60.03 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,185,625 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,510. 1.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of OncoCyte

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Broadwood Capital Inc. raised its holdings in OncoCyte by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Broadwood Capital Inc. now owns 6,244,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,339 shares during the period. Pura Vida Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OncoCyte by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Pura Vida Investments LLC now owns 654,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after buying an additional 159,106 shares in the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OncoCyte in the fourth quarter worth about $126,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in OncoCyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 55.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.