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

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 161.25% from the company’s previous close.

OCUL has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Friday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.33.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

NASDAQ:OCUL opened at $6.89 on Tuesday. Ocular Therapeutix has a 52-week low of $6.23 and a 52-week 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. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.83 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.29.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ocular Therapeutix news, insider Peter Kaiser sold 3,035 shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $32,686.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 264,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,847,351.06. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 Jeffrey Heier sold 3,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total value of $35,530.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 318,326 shares in the company, valued at $3,431,554.28. This trade represents a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,877 shares of company stock valued at $321,827. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ocular Therapeutix

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the second quarter valued at approximately $401,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 21.7% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,725 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 44.4% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,415,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,904,000 after acquiring an additional 435,156 shares during the period. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 20.9% during the second quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 638,640 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,271,000 after buying an additional 110,350 shares in the last quarter. 59.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ocular Therapeutix

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.