Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS – Get Free Report) and uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.
Profitability
This table compares Alkermes and uniQure’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Alkermes | 3.96% | 4.15% | 2.19% |
| uniQure | -1,350.73% | -111.96% | -29.01% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for Alkermes and uniQure, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Alkermes | 1 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 2.74 |
| uniQure | 1 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 2.75 |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
95.2% of Alkermes shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.8% of uniQure shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Alkermes shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.7% of uniQure shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Alkermes and uniQure”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Alkermes | $1.48 billion | 4.56 | $241.66 million | $0.38 | 105.55 |
| uniQure | $16.10 million | 97.12 | -$198.97 million | ($4.01) | -5.62 |
Alkermes has higher revenue and earnings than uniQure. uniQure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alkermes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Alkermes has a beta of 0.32, suggesting that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, uniQure has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Alkermes beats uniQure on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Alkermes
Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders. Its marketed products include ARISTADA, an intramuscular injectable suspension for the treatment of schizophrenia; ARISTADA INITIO for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults; VIVITROL for the treatment of alcohol and prevention of opioid dependence; and LYBALVI, an oral atypical antipsychotic drug candidate for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. It has collaboration agreements primarily with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc, and Janssen Pharmaceutica International. The company also offers proprietary technology platforms to third parties to enable them to develop, commercialize, and manufacture products. Alkermes plc was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
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. In addition, it is developing AMT-162, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of superoxide dismutase 1- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; AMT-260 that is in preclinical trial to treat temporal lobe epilepsy; AMT-191, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of fabry disease; AMT-161 that is in preclinical trial to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by mutations; AMT-240, which is in preclinical trial to for the treatment of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease; and AMT-210 that is in preclinical trial to treat Parkinson's disease. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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