Short Interest in Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) Declines By 36.9%

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 25,059 shares, a decline of 36.9% from the April 30th total of 39,739 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 16,127 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Sol-Gel Technologies Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ SLGL opened at $74.37 on Friday. Sol-Gel Technologies has a 12 month low of $6.80 and a 12 month high of $97.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.90. The stock has a market cap of $208.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -218.73 and a beta of 1.13.

Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported ($1.31) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.86) by $1.55. Sol-Gel Technologies had a negative net margin of 5.66% and a negative return on equity of 3.17%. The business had revenue of $0.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.90 million. Analysts forecast that Sol-Gel Technologies will post -8.99 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sol-Gel Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sol-Gel Technologies from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 29th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised shares of Sol-Gel Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sol-Gel Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Opaleye Management Inc. bought 1,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.87 per share, with a total value of $129,527.19. Following the transaction, the insider owned 488,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,661,782.19. This trade represents a 0.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 66.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sol-Gel Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Opaleye Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sol-Gel Technologies by 121.5% during the 4th quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 453,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,121,000 after acquiring an additional 248,904 shares during the period. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sol-Gel Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,773,000. Finally, Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Sol-Gel Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $748,000. 26.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sol-Gel Technologies Company Profile

Sol-Gel Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: SLGL) is a U.S.-based advanced materials company specializing in the development and commercialization of nanostructured materials using proprietary sol-gel processes. Leveraging expertise in materials chemistry and thin-film deposition, the company focuses on the production of metal oxide powders, sols, coatings and functional inks designed to enhance performance in a variety of industrial and commercial applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes corrosion- and abrasion-resistant coatings, dielectric and conductive films, catalyst supports and specialty fillers.