uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at William Blair

Key Points

• William Blair initiated coverage of uniQure with an “outperform” rating. The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with 14 Buy, two Hold, and one Sell rating and a consensus price target of $65.
• uniQure shares fell 0.4% to $47.65, while the stock has traded between $8.73 and $71.50 over the past year. The company reported a quarterly loss of $1.22 per share, missing estimates, though revenue of $5.84 million exceeded forecasts.
• Insiders sold $16.7 million of stock during the quarter under pre-arranged trading plans, while institutional investors own 78.83% of shares. uniQure develops gene therapies, including approved hemophilia B treatment Hemgenix and pipeline programs for Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Equities research analysts at William Blair initiated coverage on shares of uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised uniQure from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of uniQure from $36.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of uniQure from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of uniQure from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of uniQure from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, uniQure currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.00.

uniQure Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ QURE traded down $0.21 on Wednesday, hitting $47.65. 438,755 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,364,963. The company has a current ratio of 10.01, a quick ratio of 10.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of -11.87 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.50 and a 200-day moving average of $29.90. uniQure has a 12 month low of $8.73 and a 12 month high of $71.50.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $5.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.45 million. uniQure had a negative net margin of 1,350.73% and a negative return on equity of 111.96%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.69) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that uniQure will post -3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 21,082 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.16, for a total transaction of $952,063.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 519,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,448,291.32. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jack Kaye sold 21,167 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.44, for a total transaction of $982,995.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,996 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,207,254.24. The trade was a 44.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 385,584 shares of company stock valued at $16,737,722. 4.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On uniQure

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of uniQure by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,150,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $147,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,556 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in uniQure by 123.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,231,043 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $77,319,000 after buying an additional 1,787,033 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in uniQure by 155.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,934,626 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $70,226,000 after buying an additional 1,785,275 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in uniQure by 6,641.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,423,263 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $111,615,000 after buying an additional 2,387,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its position in uniQure by 189.7% in the first quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,136,149 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $34,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398,749 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About uniQure

uniQure N.V. is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of gene therapies for patients with severe medical needs. Using its proprietary adeno‐associated viral (AAV) vector platform, the company designs single‐dose treatments aimed at addressing the underlying genetic causes of disease rather than solely managing symptoms. Its most advanced program, Hemgenix® (etranacogene dezaparvovec), received regulatory approval in the United States and Europe for adult patients with hemophilia B, marking one of the first gene therapies for a bleeding disorder to reach the market.

Beyond hemophilia B, uniQure's pipeline includes preclinical and clinical-stage candidates targeting rare and debilitating conditions such as aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source