OptiNose, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTN) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

OptiNose, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTN) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 191,700 shares, a drop of 29.5% from the March 15th total of 271,800 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 93,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ramy A. Mahmoud sold 6,376 shares of OptiNose stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total transaction of $33,729.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $671,464.99. This trade represents a 4.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 8,213 shares of company stock worth $43,643 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OptiNose

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in OptiNose by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 341,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 42,500 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of OptiNose by 33.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,298,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $870,000 after buying an additional 326,918 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OptiNose in the fourth quarter valued at $2,824,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of OptiNose in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. 85.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OptiNose Price Performance

Shares of OptiNose stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.17. 19,070 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 68,986. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.67. OptiNose has a 52 week low of $4.82 and a 52 week high of $20.03. The firm has a market cap of $92.36 million, a P/E ratio of -2.18 and a beta of -0.87.

OptiNose (NASDAQ:OPTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $21.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.02 million. Equities research analysts expect that OptiNose will post -3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on OPTN shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $18.00) on shares of OptiNose in a report on Friday, March 21st. Lake Street Capital cut shares of OptiNose from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of OptiNose in a report on Friday, March 21st.

OptiNose Company Profile

OptiNose, Inc, a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of products for patients treated by ear, nose, throat, and allergy specialists in the United States. The company offers XHANCE, a therapeutic product utilizing its proprietary exhalation delivery system (EDS) that delivers a topically acting corticosteroid for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, as well as is in Phase IIIb clinical trial for treatment of chronic sinusitis; and Onzetra Xsail, a powder EDS device.