uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• uniQure shares opened higher, rising from a prior close of $22.69 to $23.40 before trading around $23.23, up approximately 1.9%.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans positive: the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $53.25 target, although Barclays and Goldman Sachs recently cut their ratings or price targets.
• The biotechnology company reported a quarterly loss of $1.22 per share, missing estimates, while institutional investors own a substantial 78.83% of outstanding shares.

uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ:QURE - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $22.69, but opened at $23.40. uniQure shares last traded at $23.2250, with a volume of 541,222 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on QURE. Barclays cut uniQure from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $60.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on uniQure from $46.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of uniQure from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of uniQure from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of uniQure from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.25.

uniQure Stock Up 1.9%

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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.76 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.89 and a 200-day moving average of $34.06.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.82) by ($0.40). uniQure had a negative return on equity of 111.96% and a negative net margin of 1,350.73%. The company had revenue of $5.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.69) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that uniQure N.V. will post -3.82 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of uniQure

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Orbimed Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,398,749 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of uniQure during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,988,000. Siren L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of uniQure during the first quarter valued at approximately $16,350,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of uniQure by 1,107.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 776,604 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $12,697,000 after acquiring an additional 712,278 shares during the period. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in shares of uniQure by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 697,640 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $11,406,000 after acquiring an additional 35,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.83% of the company's stock.

uniQure Company Profile

uniQure N.V. is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for serious and life-threatening diseases. The company uses adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and other genetic medicine technologies to deliver therapeutic genes intended to address the underlying causes of disease.

uniQure's best-known product is HEMGENIX, a gene therapy for adults with hemophilia B caused by factor IX deficiency. HEMGENIX was developed by uniQure and is commercialized by CSL Behring under a global licensing agreement.

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