Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 39,739 shares, an increase of 112.6% from the April 15th total of 18,688 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 31,638 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Sol-Gel Technologies

In other news, major shareholder Opaleye Management Inc. acquired 1,937 shares of Sol-Gel Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.87 per share, for a total transaction of $129,527.19. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 488,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,661,782.19. The trade was a 0.40% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 66.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $748,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sol-Gel Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,773,000. Finally, Opaleye Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sol-Gel Technologies by 121.5% in the fourth quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 453,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,121,000 after acquiring an additional 248,904 shares during the last quarter. 26.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sol-Gel Technologies Price Performance

Sol-Gel Technologies stock opened at $72.72 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.00. Sol-Gel Technologies has a one year low of $6.80 and a one year high of $97.97. The firm has a market cap of $204.34 million, a PE ratio of -32.61 and a beta of 1.16.

Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($1.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($1.46). Sol-Gel Technologies had a negative return on equity of 24.29% and a negative net margin of 31.60%.The business had revenue of $0.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.50 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SLGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Lifesci Capital raised Sol-Gel Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sol-Gel Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sol-Gel Technologies from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sol-Gel Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.00.

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.