uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,180,000 shares, an increase of 22.8% from the June 30th total of 2,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,730,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in uniQure during the 4th quarter valued at $1,981,000. Bridger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of uniQure by 2,917.3% during the fourth quarter. Bridger Management LLC now owns 362,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 350,340 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of uniQure by 133.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 613,490 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 350,291 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of uniQure by 458.5% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 295,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 242,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in uniQure by 74.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 157,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 66,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.83% of the company’s stock.

uniQure Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ QURE traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $7.86. 154,721 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,770,035. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.49. uniQure has a 12-month low of $3.73 and a 12-month high of $11.35. The firm has a market cap of $381.60 million, a P/E ratio of -1.26 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 9.39 and a quick ratio of 9.27.

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.31) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $8.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 million. uniQure had a negative net margin of 1,562.22% and a negative return on equity of 121.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that uniQure will post -4.4 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on QURE. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of uniQure in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of uniQure in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on uniQure from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

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.