Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. $OCUL Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,163,240 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 771,065 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 5.27% of Ocular Therapeutix worth $107,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 62.9% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix during the third quarter worth about $126,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the 3rd quarter valued at about $132,000. Marex Group plc purchased a new position in Ocular Therapeutix during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $115,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ocular Therapeutix by 21.2% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 13,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 2,343 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ocular Therapeutix

In related news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 20,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.28, for a total transaction of $166,063.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,013,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,947,822.16. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard L. Md Lindstrom purchased 60,229 shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.66 per share, for a total transaction of $461,354.14. Following the purchase, the director owned 246,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,891,506.78. This trade represents a 32.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 197,221 shares of company stock valued at $1,754,805. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OCUL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered Ocular Therapeutix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ocular Therapeutix presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.78.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $11.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of -7.67 and a beta of 0.91. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.80 and a 52 week high of $16.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.53. The company has a quick ratio of 15.32, a current ratio of 15.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.13 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative net margin of 511.90% and a negative return on equity of 70.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.29) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ocular Therapeutix Company Profile

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, the company focuses on sustained-release drug delivery platforms designed to address key unmet needs in ophthalmology. Its proprietary hydrogel-based inserts and sealants aim to improve patient compliance and outcomes by providing controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients directly to ocular tissues.

The company’s flagship product, DEXTENZA®, is a preservative-free, sustained-release dexamethasone intracanalicular insert approved by the U.S.