ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America started coverage on shares of ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 260.36% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded ProQR Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. JonesTrading dropped their price objective on shares of ProQR Therapeutics from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ProQR Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ProQR Therapeutics in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of ProQR Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.50.

ProQR Therapeutics Stock Up 3.3%

NASDAQ PRQR opened at $2.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $233.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.83 and a beta of 0.07. ProQR Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.33 and a twelve month high of $3.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1.78 and its 200 day moving average is $1.67.

ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.56 million. ProQR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 73.83% and a negative net margin of 223.51%. On average, research analysts anticipate that ProQR Therapeutics will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Boer Daniel Anton De bought 150,000 shares of ProQR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $1.74 per share, for a total transaction of $261,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bart Filius bought 150,000 shares of ProQR Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.72 per share, for a total transaction of $258,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 600,000 shares of company stock worth $988,500. 8.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProQR Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRQR. Privium Fund Management B.V. lifted its holdings in ProQR Therapeutics by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. now owns 5,357,762 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,823,000 after buying an additional 359,475 shares during the period. Ikarian Capital LLC grew its holdings in ProQR Therapeutics by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Ikarian Capital LLC now owns 1,492,229 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,014,000 after acquiring an additional 600,000 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of ProQR Therapeutics by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 417,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $889,000 after acquiring an additional 193,260 shares in the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of ProQR Therapeutics by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 355,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 106,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palo Alto Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of ProQR Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $402,000. Institutional investors own 32.65% of the company’s stock.

About ProQR Therapeutics

ProQR Therapeutics N.V. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing RNA-based therapies for severe genetic diseases. Utilizing its proprietary Axiomer® RNA editing platform, ProQR aims to correct disease-causing mutations directly at the messenger RNA level. The company’s pipeline features several investigational candidates, including sepofarsen (formerly QR-110) for Leber congenital amaurosis type 10, QR-421a targeting Usher syndrome and certain forms of retinitis pigmentosa, and QR-313 for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, ProQR maintains a significant presence in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to support its clinical research and regulatory initiatives.