uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Stock Price Down 6.8% – Should You Sell?

uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ:QURE)’s stock price was down 6.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $40.58 and last traded at $39.8310. Approximately 399,138 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,274,288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on QURE. Mizuho increased their price target on uniQure from $35.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. William Blair started coverage on uniQure in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on uniQure from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded uniQure from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on uniQure from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

uniQure Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.49 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 10.01 and a current ratio of 10.01.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $5.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.45 million. uniQure had a negative net margin of 1,350.73% and a negative return on equity of 111.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.69) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that uniQure N.V. will post -3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at uniQure

In related news, insider Walid Abi-Saab sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.42, for a total value of $1,392,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 148,235 shares in the company, valued at $6,881,068.70. This represents a 16.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew Kapusta sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.16, for a total transaction of $952,063.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 519,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,448,291.32. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 73,683 shares of company stock worth $3,394,856 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On uniQure

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in uniQure by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,150,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,556 shares during the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of uniQure by 189.7% in the 1st quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,136,149 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398,749 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of uniQure in the 1st quarter worth about $16,350,000. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of uniQure in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,390,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of uniQure by 1,107.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 776,604 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 712,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

uniQure Company Profile

uniQure N.V. is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for serious and life-threatening diseases. The company uses adeno-associated virus (AAV) technology to deliver genetic material intended to address the underlying causes of disease, with research activities spanning neurological, neuromuscular, metabolic and cardiovascular conditions.

uniQure’s pipeline has included AMT-130, an investigational gene therapy for Huntington’s disease, as well as programs targeting other conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Fabry disease.