Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Insider Pravin Dugel Sells 21,649 Shares of Stock

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,649 shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.77, for a total value of $233,159.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,525,429 shares in the company, valued at $27,198,870.33. This represents a 0.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ OCUL traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, hitting $10.77. 1,364,367 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,141,407. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.58 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.13. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.23 and a fifty-two week high of $16.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 13.10 and a quick ratio of 13.03.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 59.89% and a negative net margin of 579.10%.The business had revenue of $13.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.20 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.39) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ocular Therapeutix

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 30.4% in the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 124.2% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,242 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 1.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 72,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 13,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 59.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on OCUL. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ocular Therapeutix from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ocular Therapeutix has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.75.

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.