Needham & Company LLC Initiates Coverage on Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)

Equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 77.94% from the company’s current price.

OCUL has been the topic of several other reports. JMP Securities set a $19.00 price target on Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ocular Therapeutix presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.29.

Ocular Therapeutix Price Performance

Shares of OCUL stock opened at $8.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.39 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.72 and its 200 day moving average is $8.84. Ocular Therapeutix has a twelve month low of $4.06 and a twelve month high of $11.78. The company has a quick ratio of 12.94, a current ratio of 13.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $17.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.89 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative return on equity of 45.18% and a negative net margin of 283.74%. Research analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.87, for a total transaction of $147,533.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,520,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,184,584.66. This represents a 0.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Donald Notman sold 11,119 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.81, for a total value of $86,839.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 193,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,510,797.64. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,895 shares of company stock valued at $283,772. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 92,734 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 27,777 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Ocular Therapeutix by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 88,463 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC increased its position in Ocular Therapeutix by 5.1% during the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 65,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 3,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Ocular Therapeutix during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 59.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ocular Therapeutix

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the formulation, development, and commercialization of therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye using its bioresorbable hydrogel-based formulation technology in the United States. The company markets DEXTENZA, a dexamethasone ophthalmic insert to treat post-surgical ocular inflammation and pain following ophthalmic surgery, as well as allergic conjunctivitis.