uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Raised to “Outperform” at Royal Bank Of Canada

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) was upgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Monday. The brokerage presently has a $35.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 145.27% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on uniQure in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of uniQure in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on uniQure in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Chardan Capital cut their target price on uniQure from $53.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of uniQure in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.08.

uniQure Trading Up 34.0%

QURE stock opened at $14.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $892.30 million, a PE ratio of -4.14 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 10.43 and a current ratio of 10.43. uniQure has a one year low of $7.76 and a one year high of $71.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.63.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by $0.37. The company had revenue of $5.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 million. uniQure had a negative net margin of 1,236.00% and a negative return on equity of 174.03%. As a group, analysts predict that uniQure will post -3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other uniQure news, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 14,581 shares of uniQure stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total value of $132,103.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 660,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,985,561.48. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeannette Potts sold 3,412 shares of uniQure stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total value of $30,912.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 138,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,254,655.98. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,399 shares of company stock valued at $1,527,645. 4.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On uniQure

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in uniQure in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,217,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in uniQure by 123.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,231,043 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $77,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787,033 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in uniQure by 155.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,934,626 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $70,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785,275 shares in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in uniQure by 38.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,705,556 shares during the period. Finally, MPM Bioimpact LLC purchased a new stake in shares of uniQure during the 4th quarter worth $33,062,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

uniQure Company Profile

uniQure N.V. is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of gene therapies for patients with severe medical needs. Using its proprietary adeno‐associated viral (AAV) vector platform, the company designs single‐dose treatments aimed at addressing the underlying genetic causes of disease rather than solely managing symptoms. Its most advanced program, Hemgenix® (etranacogene dezaparvovec), received regulatory approval in the United States and Europe for adult patients with hemophilia B, marking one of the first gene therapies for a bleeding disorder to reach the market.

Beyond hemophilia B, uniQure’s pipeline includes preclinical and clinical-stage candidates targeting rare and debilitating conditions such as aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency, Huntington’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.