Oculis (NASDAQ:OCS) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Oculis shares opened higher at $9.71 versus a prior close of $9.41, but later traded at $9.3350 on relatively light volume.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish despite multiple price-target cuts: nine analysts rate Oculis a Buy and one rates it Sell, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $39.44 average target.
• The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company reported a quarterly loss of $0.20 per share on $0.38 million in revenue, while institutional ownership stands at 22.3% following several new investor positions.

Shares of Oculis Holding AG (NASDAQ:OCS - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $9.41, but opened at $9.71. Oculis shares last traded at $9.3350, with a volume of 16,034 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Oculis from $75.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Oculis from $46.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Oculis from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 1st. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Oculis from $26.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Oculis from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oculis currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.44.

Oculis Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $540.70 million, a PE ratio of -5.35 and a beta of 0.52. The stock's 50 day moving average is $11.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 8.35 and a current ratio of 8.35.

Oculis (NASDAQ:OCS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter. Oculis had a negative return on equity of 42.61% and a negative net margin of 6,777.18%.The firm had revenue of $0.38 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oculis Holding AG will post -2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Oculis

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCS. Braidwell LP purchased a new position in Oculis in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,570,000. NEXTBio Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Oculis during the fourth quarter worth $2,991,000. Folketrygdfondet acquired a new stake in shares of Oculis in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,651,000. Propel Bio Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oculis in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,452,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oculis by 326.4% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 61,605 shares of the company's stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 47,158 shares in the last quarter. 22.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Oculis

Oculis is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing ophthalmic therapies for eye diseases and vision loss. The company uses proprietary drug-delivery technologies designed to improve the delivery of treatments to specific tissues in the eye, with the goal of offering effective and convenient alternatives to injections or other invasive procedures.

Oculis' pipeline includes OCS-01, a topical eye-drop formulation of dexamethasone being developed for diabetic macular edema and inflammation following ocular surgery.

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