Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Shares Down 22.3% – Should You Sell?

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) shares were down 22.3% on Monday. The company traded as low as $8.21 and last traded at $7.4960. Approximately 1,113,832 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 3,897,196 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on OCUL shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Chardan Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Ocular Therapeutix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.75.

Ocular Therapeutix Stock Down 19.1%

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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of -5.51 and a beta of 0.97.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $13.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.20 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative net margin of 579.10% and a negative return on equity of 59.89%. Ocular Therapeutix’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.39) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter Kaiser sold 3,035 shares of the 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 $32,686.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 264,378 shares in the company, valued at $2,847,351.06. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 firm’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 sale, the insider directly owned 2,525,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,198,870.33. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 29,877 shares of company stock worth $321,827 over the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix during the 2nd quarter worth about $190,278,000. Commodore Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix during the first quarter valued at approximately $21,810,000. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,484,000. Defilade Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 118.2% during the first quarter. Defilade Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,487,645 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,600,000 after buying an additional 805,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spruce Street Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,518,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 technology to design sustained-release treatments intended to deliver medication to ocular tissues over extended periods and potentially reduce the need for frequent eye drops or injections.

Its commercial product, Dextenza, is a resorbable intracanalicular insert that delivers dexamethasone to the ocular surface for the treatment of inflammation and pain following ophthalmic surgery.