Needham & Company LLC Cuts Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Price Target to $18.00

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) had its price target lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $20.00 to $18.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ocular Therapeutix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.78.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $7.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.76 and its 200 day moving average is $11.67. Ocular Therapeutix has a one year low of $5.78 and a one year high of $16.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 15.39 and a quick ratio of 15.32.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.13 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative net margin of 511.90% and a negative return on equity of 70.68%. The company’s revenue was down 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.29) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ocular Therapeutix

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 124,882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total transaction of $1,128,933.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,033,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,419,025.12. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sanjay Nayak sold 10,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total value of $93,545.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 332,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,005,004.48. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 166,029 shares of company stock valued at $1,498,430 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ocular Therapeutix

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,575,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $140,523,000 after buying an additional 2,411,953 shares in the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,777,777 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,842,000 after acquiring an additional 527,777 shares during the last quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC lifted its position in Ocular Therapeutix by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC now owns 6,117,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $71,510,000 after acquiring an additional 798,084 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,625,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $56,148,000 after purchasing an additional 620,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,356,547 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $52,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

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.