Opus Genetics (NASDAQ:IRD) Stock Keeps “Buy” Rating at Chardan Capital

Opus Genetics (NASDAQ:IRD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Chardan Capital in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price target on the stock. Chardan Capital‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 305.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Opus Genetics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Opus Genetics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Opus Genetics in a report on Thursday, October 15th. JonesTrading increased their price objective on shares of Opus Genetics from $10.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Opus Genetics in a report on Friday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Opus Genetics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.71.

Opus Genetics Price Performance

IRD stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.94. 326,956 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,429,191. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.38. The company has a market cap of $325.81 million, a PE ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 0.62. Opus Genetics has a 1 year low of $1.70 and a 1 year high of $7.07.

Opus Genetics (NASDAQ:IRD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $0.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 million. Research analysts expect that Opus Genetics will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert Gagnon sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.54, for a total value of $127,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 556,375 shares in the company, valued at $2,525,942.50. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Fighting Blindness Foundation sold 556,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.96, for a total value of $2,757,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,236,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,051,408.16. This trade represents a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 11.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Opus Genetics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRD. Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Opus Genetics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of Opus Genetics in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Opus Genetics in the second quarter valued at $47,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Opus Genetics in the second quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Opus Genetics in the second quarter valued at $66,000. 14.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Opus Genetics Company Profile

Opus Genetics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for inherited retinal diseases, a group of rare disorders that can cause progressive vision loss and blindness. The company’s research is centered on therapies intended to address the underlying genetic causes of these conditions rather than treating only their symptoms.

Opus Genetics is advancing an investigational pipeline of adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy candidates for diseases involving mutations in genes important to retinal function.