Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:RARE)

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 16,470 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 855% compared to the typical volume of 1,724 put options.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RARE traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $27.61. The stock had a trading volume of 335,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,231,490. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical has a one year low of $18.29 and a one year high of $39.89. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.51 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.38 and its 200-day moving average is $24.60.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:RARE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.84) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $136.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.19 million. Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical had a negative return on equity of 1,024.42% and a negative net margin of 91.03%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.57) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical will post -4.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical

In other news, Director Shehnaaz Suliman sold 5,740 shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.12, for a total transaction of $144,188.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,129.12. The trade was a 17.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Howard Horn sold 4,683 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.90, for a total transaction of $116,606.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,747,515.80. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,319 shares of company stock valued at $476,837. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 1,030.4% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,257,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $47,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,057,951 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 614.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,167,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,164 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,004,000. Eagle Health Investments LP acquired a new stake in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical during the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,522,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical by 787.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 880,644 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,255,000 after buying an additional 781,431 shares during the period. 97.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on RARE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $50.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $84.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.41.

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.