Insider Selling: Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Insider Sells $76,626.45 in Stock

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) insider Jeffrey Heier sold 10,869 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.05, for a total value of $76,626.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 307,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,167,571.85. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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.

Ocular Therapeutix Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $7.51 on Friday. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.23 and a 1 year high of $16.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.26. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 13.10, a quick ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.05. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative net margin of 579.10% and a negative return on equity of 59.89%. The firm had revenue of $13.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.39) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $190,278,000. Commodore Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix during the 1st quarter worth approximately $21,810,000. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Ocular Therapeutix in the 1st quarter valued at $7,484,000. Defilade Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 118.2% in the 1st quarter. Defilade Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,487,645 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,600,000 after buying an additional 805,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spruce Street Capital LP bought a new stake in Ocular Therapeutix in the fourth quarter valued at $9,518,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on OCUL shares. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Ocular Therapeutix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ocular Therapeutix currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.33.

Ocular Therapeutix Company Profile

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 formulation and delivery technologies to create sustained-release treatments intended to improve drug delivery, reduce dosing frequency and address unmet needs in ophthalmology.

Its commercial product is DEXTENZA, a corticosteroid ophthalmic insert that is placed in the canaliculus by a healthcare professional.