uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE – Get Free Report) and Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability and risk.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
78.8% of uniQure shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.2% of Alkermes shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of uniQure shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of Alkermes shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares uniQure and Alkermes’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| uniQure | -1,350.73% | -111.96% | -29.01% |
| Alkermes | 3.96% | 4.15% | 2.19% |
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| uniQure | $18.67 million | 81.14 | -$198.97 million | ($4.01) | -5.45 |
| Alkermes | $1.67 billion | 4.05 | $241.66 million | $0.38 | 105.95 |
Alkermes has higher revenue and earnings than uniQure. uniQure is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alkermes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
uniQure has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alkermes has a beta of 0.32, suggesting that its stock price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for uniQure and Alkermes, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| uniQure | 1 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 2.75 |
| Alkermes | 1 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 2.74 |
uniQure presently has a consensus price target of $53.73, indicating a potential upside of 146.00%. Alkermes has a consensus price target of $54.47, indicating a potential upside of 35.30%. Given uniQure’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe uniQure is more favorable than Alkermes.
Summary
Alkermes beats uniQure on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About uniQure
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. In addition, it is developing AMT-162, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of superoxide dismutase 1- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; AMT-260 that is in preclinical trial to treat temporal lobe epilepsy; AMT-191, which is in preclinical trial for the treatment of fabry disease; AMT-161 that is in preclinical trial to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by mutations; AMT-240, which is in preclinical trial to for the treatment of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease; and AMT-210 that is in preclinical trial to treat Parkinson's disease. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
About Alkermes
Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products to address unmet medical needs of patients in therapeutic areas in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates in development for neurological disorders. Its marketed products include ARISTADA, an intramuscular injectable suspension for the treatment of schizophrenia; ARISTADA INITIO for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults; VIVITROL for the treatment of alcohol and prevention of opioid dependence; and LYBALVI, an oral atypical antipsychotic drug candidate for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. It has collaboration agreements primarily with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V., Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc, and Janssen Pharmaceutica International. The company also offers proprietary technology platforms to third parties to enable them to develop, commercialize, and manufacture products. Alkermes plc was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
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