Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:RARE)

Key Points

• Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical saw unusually heavy options activity on Friday, with 8,880 call options traded — about 864% above its average call volume of 921.
• The stock fell 2.7% to $25.10, and the company recently reported a quarterly earnings miss, posting EPS of ($1.84) versus expectations of ($1.49) and revenue of $136 million versus $158.19 million expected.
• Insider selling has also been notable, with the CFO and another insider recently selling shares; meanwhile, analysts still hold a Moderate Buy consensus, though price targets have been mixed and some firms have cut their outlooks sharply.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 8,880 call options on the company. This is an increase of 864% compared to the average volume of 921 call options.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:RARE traded down $0.70 on Friday, reaching $25.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 751,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,191,961. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical has a 12-month low of $18.29 and a 12-month high of $42.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.10 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.53.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.84) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.49) by ($0.35). Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical had a negative net margin of 91.03% and a negative return on equity of 1,024.42%. The business had revenue of $136.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $158.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.57) EPS. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical will post -4.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

In other Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical news, CFO Howard Horn sold 8,409 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total transaction of $190,884.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 86,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,967,386.30. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Richard Pinion sold 10,029 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.80, for a total value of $228,661.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,508,592.80. This trade represents a 8.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 111,522 shares of company stock valued at $2,543,214 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RARE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 232,360 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $8,414,000 after buying an additional 29,984 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the 2nd quarter valued at $454,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the 2nd quarter valued at $366,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 7,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 1,560.4% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 99,161 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,913,000 after buying an additional 93,189 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RARE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $120.00 to $74.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $61.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.41.

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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