Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wedbush cut its price target on Ultragenyx from $27 to $26 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying only about a 3.96% upside from the prior close.
• Ultragenyx missed Q1 estimates, reporting EPS of -$1.84 vs. -$1.50 expected and revenue of $136M vs. $158.4M expected, with steep negative margins and ROE.
• Despite recent downgrades and target cuts, MarketBeat's consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $60.82, based on mostly buy ratings (1 Strong Buy, 14 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell).

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Wedbush from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Wedbush's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.96% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $128.00 to $79.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright decreased their target price on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $44.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.82.

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Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of RARE stock opened at $25.01 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $22.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.28 and a beta of 0.39. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical has a twelve month low of $18.29 and a twelve month high of $42.37.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.84) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.50) by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $136.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.38 million. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 1,024.42%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical will post -4.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

In related news, EVP Karah Herdman Parschauer sold 8,135 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.80, for a total transaction of $185,478.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 76,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,688.80. This represents a 9.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Howard Horn sold 4,683 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.90, for a total transaction of $116,606.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 110,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,747,515.80. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,178 shares of company stock valued at $2,534,628. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RARE. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 1,030.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,257,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $47,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057,951 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 614.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,167,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $65,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,164 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the fourth quarter worth $29,004,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 787.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 880,644 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $20,255,000 after purchasing an additional 781,431 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the third quarter worth $22,560,000. 97.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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