uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock to a sell rating. 864,983 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the previous session’s volume of 1,614,249 shares.The stock last traded at $15.07 and had previously closed at $15.30.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Raymond James raised shares of uniQure from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of uniQure from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of uniQure from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on uniQure from $28.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of uniQure in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at uniQure

In other news, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 3,418 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.63, for a total transaction of $26,079.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 597,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,562,091.45. This represents a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of uniQure

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in uniQure by 21.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,301 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 2,306 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in uniQure by 57.0% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,093 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of uniQure by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 508,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after buying an additional 6,362 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of uniQure by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 67,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 8,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in uniQure in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 78.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

uniQure Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $719.40 million, a PE ratio of -2.81 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.15.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 million. uniQure had a negative return on equity of 188.82% and a negative net margin of 837.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that uniQure will post -3.74 EPS for the current year.

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.