Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $14.85, but opened at $15.48. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical shares last traded at $15.8020, with a volume of 1,993,318 shares traded.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see substantial long-term value. Jefferies, Citi, TD Cowen, Cantor Fitzgerald and HC Wainwright retained buy or overweight ratings, while their revised targets remain above the current price. Why Wall Street Isn’t Giving Up Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option activity suggests that some traders are positioning for a rebound following the selloff. The company’s existing commercial rare-disease portfolio also remains an important potential support for valuation. Ultragenyx Stock Sinks on Drug Trial Failure
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts sharply cut their assumptions but generally left some upside potential: Baird and Evercore moved to neutral or in-line, Wells Fargo to equal weight, and Bank of America to neutral. Royal Bank of Canada subsequently downgraded Ultragenyx to hold. Baird Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Ultragenyx said its Phase 3 Aspire trial of apazunersen in Angelman syndrome failed to meet both the primary cognitive endpoint and a key secondary multidomain-response endpoint. The result undermines one of the company’s major growth opportunities and has raised uncertainty about the program’s future. Ultragenyx’s Rare Disease Drug Fails in Late-Stage Trial
• Negative Sentiment: The setback triggered widespread target cuts, including reductions from $80 to $36 at JPMorgan, $50 to $18 at Wells Fargo and $40 to $16 at Baird. Ultragenyx is also considering significant cost reductions, highlighting potential pressure on its research pipeline and operations. Ultragenyx to Weigh Significant Cost Cuts

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RARE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $58.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $80.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $83.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore lowered Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $16.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.95.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.67 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.04.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.90) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $214.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.08 million. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical had a negative net margin of 81.79% and a negative return on equity of 1,024.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.17) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. will post -3.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karah Parschauer sold 1,899 shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.62, for a total transaction of $46,753.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,654.44. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Corazon (Corsee) D. Sanders sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.05, for a total value of $50,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $528,429.75. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the 2nd quarter worth about $355,746,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the second quarter valued at about $6,397,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the second quarter valued at about $5,503,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the second quarter worth about $4,644,000. Finally, Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical in the second quarter worth about $6,098,000. 97.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for rare and ultra-rare genetic disorders. Since its founding in 2010 and headquarters in Novato, California, the company has built expertise in protein replacement therapies, small molecules and gene therapy approaches to address high-unmet medical needs. Ultragenyx applies a precision medicine model, leveraging both in-house research and strategic collaborations to advance its product pipeline from discovery through regulatory approval.

The company’s commercial portfolio includes Crysvita (burosumab-tmyl) for X-linked hypophosphatemia, Mepsevii (vestronidase alfa-vjbk) for mucopolysaccharidosis VII and Dojolvi (triheptanoin) for long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders.