Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLSD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLSD) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,950,000 shares, a growth of 646.6% from the September 30th total of 261,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 718,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearside Biomedical

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Clearside Biomedical by 172.2% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 54,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 34,359 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Clearside Biomedical by 6.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 582,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 35,900 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Clearside Biomedical in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $368,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Clearside Biomedical by 14.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,490,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,811,000 after buying an additional 314,480 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Clearside Biomedical in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.75% of the company’s stock.

Clearside Biomedical Stock Performance

CLSD remained flat at $1.10 on Friday. 252,591 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 407,794. The stock has a market cap of $82.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.00 and a beta of 2.35. Clearside Biomedical has a 52 week low of $0.65 and a 52 week high of $2.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.21.

Clearside Biomedical (NASDAQ:CLSD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $0.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.15) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Clearside Biomedical will post -0.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CLSD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clearside Biomedical from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Clearside Biomedical in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Clearside Biomedical from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of Clearside Biomedical in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.17.

About Clearside Biomedical

Clearside Biomedical, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the revolutionizing the delivery of therapies to the back of the eye through the suprachoroidal space. It offers XIPERE, a triamcinolone acetonide suprachoroidal injectable suspension for the treatment of uveitis macular edema. It also develops CLS-AX, an axitinib injectable suspension for suprachoroidal injection, which is in Phase IIb clinical trial to treat wet AMD.