Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 2,057,951 Shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. $RARE

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management dramatically increased its Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stake in Q1, buying 2,057,951 additional shares and lifting its position by 1,030.4% to 2,257,671 shares worth about $47.3 million.
• Ultragenyx reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly result, posting an EPS loss of $1.84 versus the $1.49 consensus and revenue of $136 million, which also missed estimates.
• Wall Street remains generally positive despite mixed signals: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus on the stock with an average target price of $59.56, while recent insider sales have trimmed ownership.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE - Free Report) by 1,030.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,257,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 2,057,951 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 2.30% of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical worth $47,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 1,706.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 56.2% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,092 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. 97.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Stock Performance

Shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock opened at $29.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.79 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $24.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.63. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.29 and a twelve month high of $42.37.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 91.03% and a negative return on equity of 1,024.42%. The company had revenue of $136.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.57) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. will post -4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 2,000 shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Shehnaaz Suliman sold 5,740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.12, for a total value of $144,188.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,129.12. The trade was a 17.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,002 shares of company stock valued at $575,039. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $120.00 to $74.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.56.

About Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

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.

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