Insider Selling: Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL) Insider Sells $20,449.66 in Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Sanjay Nayak sold 1,897 Ocular Therapeutix shares for $20,449.66 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding, reducing his stake by 0.58% to 326,898 shares.
• Stock and financial performance: OCUL traded near $10.77, well below its 52-week high of $16.44. The company exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates but remains unprofitable, with analysts expecting a full-year loss of $1.47 per share.
• Analyst and institutional sentiment: Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $25.75 price target, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.21% of the stock.

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL - Get Free Report) insider Sanjay Nayak sold 1,897 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total transaction of $20,449.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 326,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,523,960.44. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ OCUL traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,364,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,141,407. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.23 and a 52 week high of $16.44. The business's 50-day moving average is $9.61 and its 200-day moving average is $9.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.58 and a beta of 0.93. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.39) EPS. The business's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on OCUL. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $25.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ocular Therapeutix has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Ocular Therapeutix in the 2nd quarter valued at $190,278,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 3,136.1% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,855,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $45,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736,560 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 2,003.2% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,424,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261,619 shares in the last quarter. Commodore Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix in the first quarter valued at about $21,810,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,575,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $140,523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411,953 shares during the period. 59.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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