Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Given “Buy” Rating at Chardan Capital

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Chardan Capital in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $23.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Chardan Capital’s target price suggests a potential upside of 125.71% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Ocular Therapeutix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.75.

Ocular Therapeutix Trading Down 4.9%

Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $10.19 on Wednesday. Ocular Therapeutix has a one year low of $6.23 and a one year high of $16.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.90 and its 200 day moving average is $9.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of -7.18 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 13.10 and a quick ratio of 13.03.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $13.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.20 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative return on equity of 59.89% and a negative net margin of 579.10%.Ocular Therapeutix’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ocular Therapeutix will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $233,159.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,525,429 shares in the company, valued at $27,198,870.33. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Jeffrey S. Heier sold 3,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total value of $35,530.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 318,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,431,554.28. This trade represents a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,877 shares of company stock worth $321,827. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ocular Therapeutix

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Ocular Therapeutix in the second quarter worth about $401,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,725 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,415,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,904,000 after acquiring an additional 435,156 shares during the period. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 638,640 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,271,000 after acquiring an additional 110,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

About Ocular Therapeutix

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for diseases and conditions affecting the eye. The company uses its proprietary hydrogel-based technology to design sustained-release treatments intended to deliver medication to ocular tissues over extended periods and potentially reduce the need for frequent eye drops or injections.

Its commercial product, Dextenza, is a resorbable intracanalicular insert that delivers dexamethasone to the ocular surface for the treatment of inflammation and pain following ophthalmic surgery.