uniQure Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:QURE)

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 3,615 put options on the company. This is an increase of 102% compared to the average daily volume of 1,792 put options.

uniQure Price Performance

Shares of QURE traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $15.16. The company had a trading volume of 758,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,330. The company has a market capitalization of $830.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 6.51 and a current ratio of 6.51. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $12.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.60. uniQure has a 1-year low of $3.73 and a 1-year high of $19.18.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.93 million. uniQure had a negative return on equity of 188.82% and a negative net margin of 837.80%. Analysts expect that uniQure will post -3.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at uniQure

In related news, CFO Christian Klemt sold 14,341 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.70, for a total transaction of $153,448.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 152,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,630,380.40. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 28,341 shares of uniQure stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.29, for a total value of $291,628.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 651,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,703,461.66. The trade was a 4.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 90,830 shares of company stock valued at $961,401. Company insiders own 4.74% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On uniQure

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of uniQure during the fourth quarter valued at $38,410,000. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its position in shares of uniQure by 58.4% during the first quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 4,792,572 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $50,801,000 after buying an additional 1,767,572 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP raised its stake in uniQure by 8,936.3% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 903,625 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $15,958,000 after buying an additional 893,625 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in uniQure by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,771,352 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $31,282,000 after buying an additional 794,459 shares during the period. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in uniQure in the fourth quarter valued at $13,245,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of uniQure in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of uniQure in a report on Monday, May 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of uniQure in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of uniQure from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised uniQure from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.82.

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.