Ophthotech Corp (NASDAQ:OPHT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Oppenheimer in a report released on Thursday, Analyst Ratings.Net reports. They currently have a $95.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 57.42% from the company’s current price.
The analysts wrote, “OPHT announced that Genentech (Roche’s subsidiary) has chosen to exercise its option to participate in the financial arrangements relating to Novartis’ ex-US rights to Fovista in wAMD under the Ophthotech/Novartis agreement. We view this unprecedented participation in the ex-US rights between two large pharma companies as positive, since we see it as underscoring the large market opportunity ex-US and providing additional validation. OPHT’s agreement with Novartis and financial terms remain unchanged. OPHT continues to retain sole rights to Fovista in the US and lead the Fovista pivotal clinical development. OPHT will host an R&D day on December 3rd, at which we expect management to provide an incremental update on research programs.””
In other Ophthotech Corp news, President Samir Chandrakant Patel sold 27,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $1,261,143.10. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 259,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,015,591.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David R. Guyer sold 18,582 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.69, for a total value of $700,355.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 29,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,307.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Ophthotech Corp (NASDAQ:OPHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.98) by $0.16. The company earned $3.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.31 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Ophthotech Corp will post ($3.39) earnings per share for the current year.
Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Chardan Capital raised their price target on Ophthotech Corp from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Citigroup Inc. initiated coverage on Ophthotech Corp in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target (up previously from $74.00) on shares of Ophthotech Corp in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Ophthotech Corp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 10th. Finally, Leerink Swann reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $69.00) on shares of Ophthotech Corp in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.75.
Ophthotech Corporation is a United States-based biopharmaceutical firm. The Company is engaged in developing and commercializing therapies for treating ailments of the eye and focuses on developing therapeutics for age-related macular degeneration (NASDAQ:OPHT). Its product pipeline comprises Fovista anti-platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) treatment, which is in Phase III clinical trials for use in combination with anti-VEGF drugs to disrupt the formation of abnormal new blood vessels in wet AMD. It prevents PDGF from binding to its natural receptor on pericytes, thus causing pericytes to be stripped from just formed abnormal blood vessels. Its second product candidate, Zimura, an inhibitor of complement factor C5, is developed for treating geographic atrophy (a form of dry AMD) and, together with anti-VEGF therapy and Fovista, for treating wet AMD. Both Fovista and Zimura are aptamers, single strands of nucleic acid that binds to goals with affinity.
