Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Position in uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in shares of uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) by 72.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,571 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 197,775 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.15% of uniQure worth $1,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of QURE. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of uniQure during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of uniQure by 57.0% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,093 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in uniQure in the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in uniQure in the third quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in uniQure by 21.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,301 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

uniQure Stock Performance

NASDAQ:QURE opened at $15.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.51, a current ratio of 6.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.61. The stock has a market cap of $771.55 million, a P/E ratio of -3.19 and a beta of 0.41. uniQure has a twelve month low of $3.73 and a twelve month high of $19.18.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.21. uniQure had a negative net margin of 837.80% and a negative return on equity of 188.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 million. As a group, research analysts predict that uniQure will post -3.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on QURE. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on uniQure from $26.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised uniQure to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on uniQure from $9.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of uniQure from $12.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of uniQure from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at uniQure

In other uniQure news, CEO Matthew C. Kapusta sold 3,418 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.63, for a total transaction of $26,079.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 597,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,562,091.45. This trade represents a 0.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.74% of the company’s stock.

uniQure 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.