Ocular Therapeutix’s (OCUL) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 185.76% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on OCUL. Zacks Research raised shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ocular Therapeutix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.86.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCUL traded down $0.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $6.30. The company had a trading volume of 6,048,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,971,936. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.56 and its 200 day moving average is $9.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of -4.42 and a beta of 1.00. Ocular Therapeutix has a twelve month low of $6.00 and a twelve month high of $16.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 13.03 and a current ratio of 13.10.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.05. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative net margin of 579.10% and a negative return on equity of 59.89%. The company had revenue of $13.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.39) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ocular Therapeutix will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ocular Therapeutix news, insider Jeffrey Heier sold 10,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.05, for a total value of $76,626.45. Following the transaction, the insider owned 307,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,167,571.85. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Pravin Dugel sold 21,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $233,159.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,525,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,198,870.33. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 have sold a total of 62,720 shares of company stock worth $556,247 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ocular Therapeutix in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $190,278,000. Summer Road LLC increased its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Summer Road LLC now owns 11,879,825 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $100,622,000 after buying an additional 771,270 shares during the period. Octagon Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Octagon Capital Advisors LP now owns 3,166,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,821,000 after buying an additional 543,000 shares during the period. Commodore Capital LP acquired a new position in Ocular Therapeutix in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $21,810,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,415,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,904,000 after purchasing an additional 435,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.