Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. $OCUL Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) by 145.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 227,808 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135,160 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Ocular Therapeutix were worth $1,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 124.2% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,242 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Ocular Therapeutix during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ocular Therapeutix during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ocular Therapeutix during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Ocular Therapeutix in the fourth quarter valued at about $78,000. 59.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

OCUL stock opened at $9.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 13.10 and a quick ratio of 13.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.10. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.23 and a 12 month high of $16.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of -6.47 and a beta of 0.93.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative return on equity of 59.89% and a negative net margin of 579.10%.The firm had revenue of $13.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.39) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.20, for a total transaction of $173,479.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,597,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,296,794. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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. Insiders sold 28,999 shares of company stock valued at $237,792 in the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.