Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed as “Buy” by Chardan Capital

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Chardan Capital in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $23.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Chardan Capital’s target price points to a potential upside of 228.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ocular Therapeutix has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.29.

Ocular Therapeutix Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of OCUL stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,287,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,987,535. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.94 and a beta of 1.00. Ocular Therapeutix has a one year low of $6.23 and a one year high of $16.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.30. The company has a current ratio of 13.10, a quick ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $13.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.20 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative return on equity of 59.89% and a negative net margin of 579.10%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.39) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ocular Therapeutix

In related news, insider Jeffrey Heier sold 3,296 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total transaction of $35,530.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 318,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,431,554.28. This represents a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 Peter Kaiser sold 3,035 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $32,686.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 264,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,351.06. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders sold a total of 29,877 shares of company stock valued at $321,827 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ocular Therapeutix

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCUL. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,278,000. Commodore Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the 1st quarter valued at about $21,810,000. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,484,000. Defilade Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Defilade Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,487,645 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,600,000 after purchasing an additional 805,982 shares during the period. Finally, Spruce Street Capital LP acquired a new position in Ocular Therapeutix in the 4th quarter worth about $9,518,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

Ocular Therapeutix Company Profile

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 formulation and delivery technologies to create sustained-release treatments intended to improve drug delivery, reduce dosing frequency and address unmet needs in ophthalmology.

Its commercial product is DEXTENZA, a corticosteroid ophthalmic insert that is placed in the canaliculus by a healthcare professional.