Sands Capital Management LLC Sells 284,129 Shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. $RARE

Key Points

• Sands Capital Management cut its Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stake by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 284,129 shares and ending with 3.49 million shares worth about $80.2 million.
• Ultragenyx recently reported a quarterly loss of $1.84 per share on revenue of $136 million, both worse than analyst expectations, and the company continues to post negative margins.
• Despite mixed results, analysts remain generally constructive: Ultragenyx has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with a consensus price target of $59.56, though recent insider sales and some target cuts highlight caution.

Sands Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,485,724 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 284,129 shares during the quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC owned about 3.61% of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical worth $80,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 202.2% during the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 60,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 40,577 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,725,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 4,445.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. 97.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RARE opened at $24.35 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.08. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.29 and a fifty-two week high of $42.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.99 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RARE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $128.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

In other Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical news, CFO Howard Horn sold 4,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.77, for a total value of $110,601.81. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 105,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,512,227.53. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Shehnaaz Suliman sold 5,740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.12, for a total transaction of $144,188.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,129.12. This trade represents a 17.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,103 shares of company stock worth $478,186. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

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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