Affinity Asset Advisors LLC Takes $4.24 Million Position in uniQure N.V. $QURE

Key Points

• Affinity Asset Advisors LLC has acquired a new position in uniQure N.V. by purchasing 400,000 shares valued at approximately $4.24 million, representing 0.73% ownership in the company.
• In addition to Affinity, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in uniQure by 355.2% during Q1, now holding 334,894 shares worth $3.55 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently updated their ratings for uniQure, with Mizuho upgrading the stock to "outperform" and setting a price target of $30.00.

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ:QURE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 400,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,240,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.73% of uniQure at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in uniQure by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 24,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in uniQure by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,294 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in uniQure by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 95,591 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in uniQure by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 70,978 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 3,996 shares during the period. Finally, Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in uniQure in the first quarter valued at about $106,000. 78.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on QURE shares. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of uniQure in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of uniQure in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $47.00 target price on uniQure in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho raised uniQure from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of uniQure in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $37.45.

uniQure Stock Performance

QURE stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $16.33. The company had a trading volume of 710,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,373. The company has a quick ratio of 9.98, a current ratio of 9.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.68. uniQure N.V. has a fifty-two week low of $4.45 and a fifty-two week high of $19.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $896.03 million, a PE ratio of -4.17 and a beta of 0.11.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.89) by $0.20. uniQure had a negative return on equity of 1,010.74% and a negative net margin of 1,387.98%.The company had revenue of $5.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.00 million. Analysts anticipate that uniQure N.V. will post -3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other uniQure news, Director Robert Gut sold 3,336 shares of uniQure stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.45, for a total value of $48,205.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 56,879 shares in the company, valued at $821,901.55. The trade was a 5.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David D. Meek sold 2,112 shares of uniQure stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.45, for a total value of $30,518.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $494,045.50. The trade was a 5.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,144 shares of company stock valued at $322,426 over the last 90 days. 4.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.