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 lessened its position in Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL - Free Report) by 25.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 44.4% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 5,200,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,000 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 43.9% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,935,924 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $25,073,000 after acquiring an additional 895,304 shares in the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 3.8% in the first quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 2,716,373 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $19,911,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,314,871 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,229,000 after acquiring an additional 68,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,632,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,494 shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total value of $258,787.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,227,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,856,017.76. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey S. Heier sold 3,063 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 $36,878.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 259,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,129,328.44. The trade was a 1.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,519 shares of company stock valued at $367,865. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ocular Therapeutix Trading Up 2.2%

OCUL stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $12.44. 615,142 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,848,273. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.35. The company has a current ratio of 10.10, a quick ratio of 10.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.50. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.78 and a 1-year high of $13.85.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by ($0.04). The business 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%.Ocular Therapeutix's revenue was down 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.26) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on OCUL shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Chardan Capital started coverage on Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $17.83.

Ocular Therapeutix Profile

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.