Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Ultragenyx (NASDAQ:RARE) from a "hold" to a "sell" rating in a report released Saturday.
• Despite that downgrade, the analyst consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $61.18 (1 Strong Buy, 14 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Ultragenyx posted an EPS miss of ($1.29) vs. ($1.20) expected while revenue rose 25.5% year‑over‑year; the stock trades around $24.10 (market cap ~$2.37B) and insiders have recently sold shares, reducing their ownership.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on RARE. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $72.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.18.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Trading Down 0.7%

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock opened at $24.10 on Friday. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical has a 12-month low of $18.29 and a 12-month high of $42.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.13 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.21.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.20) by ($0.09). Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical had a negative return on equity of 1,024.42% and a negative net margin of 85.54%.The firm had revenue of $207.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.39) earnings per share. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical's revenue for the quarter was up 25.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical will post -4.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

In other Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical news, CFO Howard Horn sold 4,683 shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.97, for a total transaction of $98,202.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 80,351 shares in the company, valued at $1,684,960.47. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Emil D. Kakkis sold 54,404 shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.80, for a total transaction of $1,240,411.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 658,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,025,063.20. This represents a 7.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 109,556 shares of company stock valued at $2,490,138. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 1,706.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 56.2% during 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 last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 205.4% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 26.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,787 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. 97.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Company Profile

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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