Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) Short Interest Up 111.8% in May

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 53,063 shares, an increase of 111.8% from the May 14th total of 25,059 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 45,645 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 5.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SLGL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Lifesci Capital raised Sol-Gel Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Sol-Gel Technologies in a research report on Friday, May 29th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Sol-Gel Technologies from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sol-Gel Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sol-Gel Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.00.

Insider Transactions at Sol-Gel Technologies

In related news, major shareholder Opaleye Management Inc. bought 1,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.87 per share, with a total value of $129,527.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 488,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,661,782.19. This represents a 0.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 66.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLGL. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Sol-Gel Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $748,000. Opaleye Management Inc. raised its stake in Sol-Gel Technologies by 121.5% during the fourth quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 453,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,121,000 after buying an additional 248,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sol-Gel Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,773,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.18% of the company’s stock.

Sol-Gel Technologies Price Performance

SLGL traded down $1.86 on Friday, reaching $73.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 44,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,584. The stock has a market cap of $206.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -215.99 and a beta of 1.13. Sol-Gel Technologies has a 1 year low of $6.90 and a 1 year high of $97.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.31 and its 200 day moving average is $66.38.

Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported ($1.31) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.86) by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $0.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.90 million. Sol-Gel Technologies had a negative return on equity of 3.17% and a negative net margin of 5.66%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sol-Gel Technologies will post -8.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sol-Gel Technologies Company Profile

Sol-Gel Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: SLGL) is a U.S.-based advanced materials company specializing in the development and commercialization of nanostructured materials using proprietary sol-gel processes. Leveraging expertise in materials chemistry and thin-film deposition, the company focuses on the production of metal oxide powders, sols, coatings and functional inks designed to enhance performance in a variety of industrial and commercial applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes corrosion- and abrasion-resistant coatings, dielectric and conductive films, catalyst supports and specialty fillers.