Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $18.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 134.99% from the company’s current price.

OCUL has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.75.

Ocular Therapeutix Stock Performance

NASDAQ OCUL opened at $7.66 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.39 and a beta of 0.97. Ocular Therapeutix has a 1-year low of $6.23 and a 1-year high of $16.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 13.10 and a quick ratio of 13.03.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $13.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.39) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ocular Therapeutix

In other Ocular Therapeutix news, insider Peter Kaiser sold 3,035 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total transaction of $32,686.95. Following the transaction, the insider owned 264,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,847,351.06. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total value of $35,530.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 318,326 shares in the company, valued at $3,431,554.28. This trade represents a 1.02% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,877 shares of company stock worth $321,827. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ocular Therapeutix

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

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 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.