Voya Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. $OCUL

Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 184,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 107,143 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Ocular Therapeutix worth $2,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Ocular Therapeutix by 17.0% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,154 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 7,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 72,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,604 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,392 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 8.1% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,573 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffrey S. Heier sold 10,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.04, for a total transaction of $115,942.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 249,409 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,475.36. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Kaiser sold 9,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.03, for a total value of $106,472.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 194,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,144,673.20. This represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 31,287 shares of company stock worth $359,784 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on OCUL. Wall Street Zen cut Ocular Therapeutix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $14.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on Ocular Therapeutix from $20.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ocular Therapeutix has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.56.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

Shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $12.56 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.73. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $5.78 and a 12 month high of $16.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 7.85 and a quick ratio of 7.78.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $14.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative return on equity of 86.33% and a negative net margin of 447.57%. As a group, analysts predict that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ocular Therapeutix Company Profile

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, the company focuses on sustained-release drug delivery platforms designed to address key unmet needs in ophthalmology. Its proprietary hydrogel-based inserts and sealants aim to improve patient compliance and outcomes by providing controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients directly to ocular tissues.

The company’s flagship product, DEXTENZA®, is a preservative-free, sustained-release dexamethasone intracanalicular insert approved by the U.S.