uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

QURE has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on uniQure from $30.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. UBS Group set a $95.00 price target on shares of uniQure in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of uniQure in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of uniQure from $56.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of uniQure from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, uniQure has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.42.

uniQure Trading Down 6.2%

Shares of NASDAQ QURE opened at $21.33 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.25. uniQure has a 52-week low of $6.62 and a 52-week high of $71.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 7.12 and a current ratio of 7.12. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -4.86 and a beta of 0.59.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by ($0.53). The business had revenue of $3.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 million. uniQure had a negative net margin of 1,492.90% and a negative return on equity of 373.73%. On average, equities research analysts expect that uniQure will post -3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 226,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.46, for a total value of $9,383,061.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 651,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,009,282.84. This represents a 25.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Gut sold 31,434 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.26, for a total value of $856,890.84. Following the sale, the director owned 40,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,352.70. This represents a 43.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 314,560 shares of company stock worth $12,362,568. 4.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of uniQure by 3.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 279,999 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after buying an additional 10,019 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new position in uniQure during the first quarter valued at $3,218,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in uniQure by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 400,785 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,248,000 after acquiring an additional 86,372 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in uniQure by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,215,551 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,485,000 after purchasing an additional 706,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in uniQure in the 1st quarter worth $875,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About uniQure

uniQure N.V. develops treatments for patients suffering from rare and other devastating diseases. It offers HEMGENIX that has completed Phase III HOPE-B pivotal trial for the treatment of hemophilia B. The company also develops AMT-130, a gene therapy that is in Phase I/II clinical study for the treatment of Huntington's disease.