Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) Short Interest Down 31.7% in March

Key Points

• Short interest fell 31.7% in March to 12,551 shares (about 1.3% of shares short), leaving a short-interest ratio of 0.3 days based on average trading volume.
• Sol-Gel reported a major quarterly miss with EPS of ($1.07) vs. $0.39 expected and revenue of $0.7M vs. $6.5M expected, and the company has negative margins and an expected full-year EPS of -0.28.
• Insiders own 66.51% of the company with major shareholder Opaleye adding shares, institutional ownership is 26.18%, and analysts have a consensus "Hold" rating with a $110 target amid mixed Buy/Hold opinions.

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 12,551 shares, a decline of 31.7% from the March 15th total of 18,373 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 42,875 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.3 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SLGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Sol-Gel Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $110.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Opaleye Management Inc. purchased 1,151 shares of Sol-Gel Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $55.98 per share, for a total transaction of $64,432.98. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 449,844 shares in the company, valued at $25,182,267.12. The trade was a 0.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders bought 3,424 shares of company stock worth $193,065. Corporate insiders own 66.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sol-Gel Technologies

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Sol-Gel Technologies stock. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $748,000. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.64% of Sol-Gel Technologies as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Institutional investors own 26.18% of the company's stock.

Sol-Gel Technologies Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of SLGL traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $75.71. 14,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,832. Sol-Gel Technologies has a 12 month low of $4.11 and a 12 month high of $97.97. The company's fifty day moving average price is $78.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.68. The company has a market capitalization of $212.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($1.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($1.46). The company had revenue of $0.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.50 million. Sol-Gel Technologies had a negative return on equity of 24.29% and a negative net margin of 31.60%. On average, analysts expect that Sol-Gel Technologies will post -0.28 EPS for the current year.

About Sol-Gel Technologies

Sol-Gel Technologies, Inc NASDAQ: SLGL is a U.S.-based advanced materials company specializing in the development and commercialization of nanostructured materials using proprietary sol-gel processes. Leveraging expertise in materials chemistry and thin-film deposition, the company focuses on the production of metal oxide powders, sols, coatings and functional inks designed to enhance performance in a variety of industrial and commercial applications.

The company's product portfolio includes corrosion- and abrasion-resistant coatings, dielectric and conductive films, catalyst supports and specialty fillers.

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