Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. $OCUL Shares Sold by Woodline Partners LP

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP reduced its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 25.1%, selling 251,485 shares, leaving them with a holding of 750,950 shares valued at approximately $5.5 million.
• The stock opened at $12.81 and reported a negative EPS of ($0.39) for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations.
• Analysts hold an average "Buy" rating for Ocular Therapeutix, with five analysts favoring the stock and a price target of $17.20.

Woodline Partners LP lowered its position in Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL - Free Report) by 25.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 251,485 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.47% of Ocular Therapeutix worth $5,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 151.5% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 6,760.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the first quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 8.1% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,573 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OCUL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Chardan Capital started coverage on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ocular Therapeutix presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,494 shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total value of $258,787.76. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,227,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,856,017.76. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter Kaiser sold 3,011 shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total transaction of $36,252.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 204,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,457,279.72. The trade was a 1.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,519 shares of company stock valued at $367,865 in the last ninety days. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ocular Therapeutix Stock Down 2.1%

OCUL stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $12.54. 2,336,234 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,129,983. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 10.02 and a current ratio of 10.10. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.78 and a 1-year high of $13.85. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $12.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.30. The company has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.80 and a beta of 1.50.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $13.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.12 million. Ocular Therapeutix had a negative return on equity of 71.92% and a negative net margin of 382.51%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

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.