Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $10.04, but opened at $10.83. Ocular Therapeutix shares last traded at $10.8060, with a volume of 2,671,303 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

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 fifty day moving average price of $9.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.06. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.55 and a beta of 0.93.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last released its 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 business had revenue of $13.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.20 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative return on equity of 59.89% and a negative net margin of 579.10%.Ocular Therapeutix’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.39) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.20, for a total value of $173,479.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,597,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,296,794. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,999 shares of company stock worth $237,792. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ocular Therapeutix

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,278,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 3,136.1% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,855,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736,560 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 2,003.2% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,424,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261,619 shares during the period. Commodore Capital LP acquired a new position in Ocular Therapeutix during the first quarter worth approximately $21,810,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ocular Therapeutix by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,575,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $140,523,000 after buying an additional 2,411,953 shares during the last quarter. 59.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.