Investors Buy Large Volume of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Put Options (NASDAQ:RARE)

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 16,470 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 855% compared to the average volume of 1,724 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RARE has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.41.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Price Performance

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock opened at $26.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.40 and a beta of 0.31. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical has a one year low of $18.29 and a one year high of $39.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.64.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by ($0.35). Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical had a negative return on equity of 1,024.42% and a negative net margin of 91.03%.The company had revenue of $136.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.19 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.57) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical will post -4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

In related news, EVP Karah Herdman Parschauer sold 1,899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.62, for a total value of $46,753.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,654.44. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total transaction of $50,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $528,429.75. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 19,319 shares of company stock valued at $476,837 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 14.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 232,360 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,414,000 after acquiring an additional 29,984 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new position in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the 2nd quarter worth about $454,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $366,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 1,560.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 99,161 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,913,000 after acquiring an additional 93,189 shares during the last quarter. 97.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Company Profile

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for rare and ultra-rare genetic disorders. Since its founding in 2010 and headquarters in Novato, California, the company has built expertise in protein replacement therapies, small molecules and gene therapy approaches to address high-unmet medical needs. Ultragenyx applies a precision medicine model, leveraging both in-house research and strategic collaborations to advance its product pipeline from discovery through regulatory approval.

The company’s commercial portfolio includes Crysvita (burosumab-tmyl) for X-linked hypophosphatemia, Mepsevii (vestronidase alfa-vjbk) for mucopolysaccharidosis VII and Dojolvi (triheptanoin) for long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders.