uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of uniQure N.V. (NASDAQ:QURE) saw strong trading volume on Monday . 4,935,268 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 161% from the previous session’s volume of 1,887,982 shares.The stock last traded at $57.97 and had previously closed at $54.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Chardan Capital raised their price objective on uniQure from $35.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of uniQure from $30.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of uniQure in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on uniQure from $30.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on uniQure from $28.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.17.

uniQure Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.15 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.44 and a 200 day moving average of $14.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 9.98 and a quick ratio of 9.98.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.00 million. uniQure had a negative net margin of 1,387.98% and a negative return on equity of 1,010.74%. Sell-side analysts predict that uniQure N.V. will post -3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Christian Klemt sold 15,000 shares of uniQure stock in a transaction on Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $825,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 217,730 shares in the company, valued at $11,975,150. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 226,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.46, for a total transaction of $9,383,061.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 651,454 shares in the company, valued at $27,009,282.84. The trade was a 25.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 244,316 shares of company stock worth $10,328,181. Corporate insiders own 4.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On uniQure

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of uniQure by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC now owns 56,420 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in uniQure by 358.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,085 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 5,538 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in uniQure during the second quarter worth approximately $117,000. Birchview Capital LP increased its position in shares of uniQure by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Birchview Capital LP now owns 98,697 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of uniQure by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 279,999 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 10,019 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

uniQure Company Profile

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.