uniQure N.V. $QURE Shares Purchased by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in uniQure N.V. by 24.2%, now owning 2,750,714 shares worth $38,345,000 after purchasing 535,163 additional shares in Q2.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for uniQure, with targets ranging from $56.00 to $80.00, reflecting a generally positive sentiment with an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider selling occurred as CFO Christian Klemt and CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold significant portions of their shares, raising concerns about insider confidence.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ:QURE - Free Report) by 24.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,750,714 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 535,163 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 5.02% of uniQure worth $38,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of uniQure during the 2nd quarter worth $117,000. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in uniQure by 25.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 175,806 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 35,175 shares during the period. 683 Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in uniQure by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,550,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $16,430,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP grew its stake in shares of uniQure by 58.4% in the 1st quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 4,792,572 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $50,801,000 after buying an additional 1,767,572 shares during the period. Finally, Birchview Capital LP grew its stake in shares of uniQure by 343.5% in the 1st quarter. Birchview Capital LP now owns 88,697 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 68,697 shares during the period. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on QURE. Chardan Capital lifted their price target on shares of uniQure from $35.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded uniQure from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on uniQure from $13.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of uniQure from $48.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of uniQure from $47.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.75.

uniQure Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of QURE opened at $61.56 on Monday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $26.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 9.98 and a current ratio of 9.98. uniQure N.V. has a 1 year low of $5.23 and a 1 year high of $65.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -15.70 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Christian Klemt sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $825,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 217,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,975,150. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 226,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.46, for a total value of $9,383,061.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 651,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,009,282.84. The trade was a 25.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 244,316 shares of company stock worth $10,328,181 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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