StockNews.com Begins Coverage on OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX)

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) in a note issued to investors on Sunday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the stock.

OCX has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $4.25 price objective on shares of OncoCyte in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on OncoCyte in a report on Friday, March 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of OncoCyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.56.

OncoCyte Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ OCX opened at $2.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $79.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.63 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.72. OncoCyte has a 1-year low of $1.92 and a 1-year high of $4.75.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 24th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.88. The company had revenue of $1.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.16 million. OncoCyte had a negative return on equity of 269.32% and a negative net margin of 6,122.29%. Analysts forecast that OncoCyte will post -2.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at OncoCyte

In other OncoCyte news, CFO Andrea S. James acquired 97,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, 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 available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Patrick W. Smith bought 1,077,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 represents a 60.03 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,185,625 shares of company stock valued at $2,430,510. 1.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCX. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of OncoCyte in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in OncoCyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of OncoCyte by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481 shares in the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of OncoCyte in the 4th quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of OncoCyte by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 11,289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.35% of the company’s stock.

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.