uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ:QURE)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday after Barclays downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating. The stock had previously closed at $23.46, but opened at $22.28. Barclays now has a $28.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $60.00. uniQure shares last traded at $22.63, with a volume of 497,326 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of uniQure in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised uniQure from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded uniQure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Leerink Partners raised their target price on uniQure from $36.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of uniQure from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of QURE. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in uniQure by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,150,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $147,170,000 after buying an additional 1,705,556 shares during the period. Orbimed Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of uniQure by 189.7% during 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 during the period. Artia Global Partners LP boosted its position in shares of uniQure by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Artia Global Partners LP now owns 1,023,539 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,493,000 after acquiring an additional 364,700 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of uniQure by 249.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 513,530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,653,000 after acquiring an additional 366,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in uniQure in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,390,000. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

uniQure Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 10.01 and a quick ratio of 10.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.69 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.50.

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

About uniQure

uniQure N.V. is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies intended to treat serious and potentially life-threatening diseases. The company uses adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivery technology to introduce genetic material into patients’ cells, with the goal of addressing the underlying causes of disease through a single administration.

uniQure’s lead commercial product, Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec), is a gene therapy for adults with hemophilia B who use factor IX replacement therapy.