Brokerages Set ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (NASDAQ:PRQR) PT at $7.50

ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (NASDAQ:PRQR) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.50.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded ProQR Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ProQR Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ProQR Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 17th. JonesTrading decreased their price target on ProQR Therapeutics from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of ProQR Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock.

ProQR Therapeutics Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of PRQR opened at $2.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $218.10 million, a PE ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 0.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.73. ProQR Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.33 and a 12-month high of $3.10.

ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.04. ProQR Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 223.51% and a negative return on equity of 73.83%. The firm had revenue of $10.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.56 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ProQR Therapeutics will post -0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other ProQR Therapeutics news, Director Bart Filius acquired 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.72 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel de Boer bought 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1.74 per share, for a total transaction of $261,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $522,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 600,000 shares of company stock worth $988,500. Insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ProQR Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRQR. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ProQR Therapeutics by 59.6% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 12,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ProQR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in ProQR Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in ProQR Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Simplex Trading LLC grew its holdings in ProQR Therapeutics by 44,169.0% in the fourth quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 44,269 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 44,169 shares during the last quarter. 32.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ProQR Therapeutics Company Profile

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.