Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Twelve 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ocular Therapeutix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.78.

Ocular Therapeutix Stock Down 6.8%

Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $8.94 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.57. The company has a quick ratio of 15.32, a current ratio of 15.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.21 and a beta of 0.90. Ocular Therapeutix has a twelve month low of $5.78 and a twelve month high of $16.44.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ocular Therapeutix news, insider Nadia Waheed sold 7,863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total transaction of $71,081.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 318,417 shares in the company, valued at $2,878,489.68. This represents a 2.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sanjay Nayak sold 10,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.04, for a total transaction of $93,545.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 have sold 197,221 shares of company stock valued at $1,754,805 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ocular Therapeutix

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $45,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736,560 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 2,003.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,424,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261,619 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,250,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $119,822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 26.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 106.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,229,202 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $51,321,000 after buying an additional 2,180,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.