Weiss Ratings Reaffirms "Sell (D-)" Rating for Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "Sell (D-)" rating for Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL), highlighting concerns about the company's stock performance.
• Despite Weiss's negative outlook, other brokerages such as Zacks Research and Piper Sandler have upgraded their ratings for the stock, with Piper increasing its price target from $21.00 to $31.00.
• Ocular Therapeutix reported a loss of ($0.39) EPS in its latest earnings, missing analyst expectations and showing a 17.7% decline in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on OCUL. Zacks Research raised Ocular Therapeutix from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $21.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $20.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ocular Therapeutix has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.63.

Ocular Therapeutix Stock Performance

Shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $11.49 on Friday. Ocular Therapeutix has a one year low of $5.78 and a one year high of $13.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.98 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 10.10 and a quick ratio of 10.02.

Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ:OCUL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.04). Ocular Therapeutix had a negative net margin of 382.51% and a negative return on equity of 71.92%. The firm had revenue of $13.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ocular Therapeutix will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,494 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 3,227,244 shares in the company, valued at $38,856,017.76. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey S. Heier sold 10,502 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.04, for a total value of $115,942.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 249,409 shares in the company, valued at $2,753,475.36. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,806 shares of company stock worth $727,648 over the last 90 days. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ocular Therapeutix

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCUL. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,600,000 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP purchased a new position in Ocular Therapeutix in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,632,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ocular Therapeutix in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,212,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 91.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,538,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $14,280,000 after purchasing an additional 734,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Ocular Therapeutix by 142.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 884,381 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $8,207,000 after purchasing an additional 520,138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.21% of the company's stock.

About Ocular Therapeutix

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.

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