Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $15.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

OCUL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JMP Securities set a $19.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.38.

Ocular Therapeutix Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OCUL opened at $6.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.86 and a beta of 1.49. 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 has a 52 week low of $4.06 and a 52 week high of $11.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.59.

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

Insider Activity at Ocular Therapeutix

In other Ocular Therapeutix news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.87, for a total value of $147,533.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,520,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,184,584.66. The trade was a 0.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Donald Notman sold 6,301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.84, for a total transaction of $49,399.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 204,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,773.92. This trade represents a 2.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,895 shares of company stock valued at $283,772 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ocular Therapeutix

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 2.7% in 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 during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Ocular Therapeutix by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 27,777 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 2,526 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 88,463 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 3,347 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

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.