Ovid Therapeutics Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:OVID)

Key Points

• Ovid Therapeutics experienced a significant spike in options trading, with a 347% increase in call options volume, totaling 3,750 contracts on Friday.
• Institutional investors have increased their stakes in Ovid Therapeutics, with Bank of America raising its holdings by nearly 50% and Assenagon Asset Management boosting its stake by nearly 700% in recent months.
• Ovid Therapeutics reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.06), exceeding analysts' expectations, while several analysts continue to rate its stock as "Buy" with a target price of up to $3.10.

Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 3,750 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 347% compared to the average daily volume of 838 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OVID. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ovid Therapeutics by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 56,733 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 18,841 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Ovid Therapeutics by 699.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 560,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 490,716 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ovid Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Ovid Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ovid Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.24% of the company's stock.

Ovid Therapeutics Price Performance

OVID traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 52,161,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,562. The company has a current ratio of 4.72, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Ovid Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.24 and a 12 month high of $2.01. The stock has a market cap of $134.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.56 and a beta of 0.35. The business's 50-day moving average price is $1.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.58.

Ovid Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OVID - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.09 million. Ovid Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 574.44% and a negative return on equity of 58.87%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ovid Therapeutics will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on OVID shares. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $3.00 price objective on shares of Ovid Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ovid Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $3.10.

About Ovid Therapeutics

Ovid Therapeutics Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of impactful medicines for patients and families with epilepsies and seizure-related neurological disorders in the United States. The company is developing soticlestat, a novel cholesterol 24 hydroxylase inhibitor, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the potential treatment of patients with resistant epilepsies; OV329, a GABA aminotransferase inhibitor which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for the treatment of seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex and infantile spasms; and OV350, a small molecule direct activator of the KCC2 transporter, which is in Phase 1 clinical trials for treating epilepsies.

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