Jennison Associates LLC Buys New Position in Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. $OCUL

Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 72,511 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCUL. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,623 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,642 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Ocular Therapeutix by 12.8% during the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 949,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,040,000 after buying an additional 107,614 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ocular Therapeutix during the first quarter worth $762,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Ocular Therapeutix during the first quarter worth $133,000. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ocular Therapeutix by 26.2% in the first quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 720,462 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,102,000 after buying an additional 149,359 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OCUL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ocular Therapeutix from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Chardan Capital upped their target price on Ocular Therapeutix from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ocular Therapeutix in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ocular Therapeutix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.11.

Ocular Therapeutix Stock Performance

Shares of Ocular Therapeutix stock opened at $8.62 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.30. Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has a one year low of $6.23 and a one year high of $16.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 14.81 and a quick ratio of 14.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.90 and a beta of 0.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Pravin Dugel sold 21,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.20, for a total transaction of $173,479.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,597,170 shares in the company, valued at $21,296,794. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 28,999 shares of company stock valued at $237,792 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

About Ocular Therapeutix

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, the company focuses on sustained-release drug delivery platforms designed to address key unmet needs in ophthalmology. Its proprietary hydrogel-based inserts and sealants aim to improve patient compliance and outcomes by providing controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients directly to ocular tissues.

The company’s flagship product, DEXTENZA®, is a preservative-free, sustained-release dexamethasone intracanalicular insert approved by the U.S.