Patrick W. Smith Buys 1,077,600 Shares of OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX) Stock

OncoCyte Co. (NASDAQ:OCX) major shareholder Patrick W. Smith acquired 1,077,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 2,872,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,888,975.55. This trade represents a 60.03 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

OncoCyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ OCX opened at $2.51 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.71. OncoCyte Co. has a one year low of $1.92 and a one year high of $3.48.

OncoCyte (NASDAQ:OCX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.54). The business had revenue of $0.12 million during the quarter. OncoCyte had a negative net margin of 6,122.29% and a negative return on equity of 269.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.57) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that OncoCyte Co. will post -2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on OCX shares. StockNews.com began coverage on OncoCyte in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $4.25 target price on shares of OncoCyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OncoCyte

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OCX. Pura Vida Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of OncoCyte by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Pura Vida Investments LLC now owns 654,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 159,106 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in OncoCyte by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 6,481 shares during the last quarter. 55.35% of the stock is owned by 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.