Opthea Limited (NASDAQ:OPT) Short Interest Update

Opthea Limited (NASDAQ:OPT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 522,200 shares, a growth of 20.7% from the February 28th total of 432,800 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 31,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 16.5 days.

Opthea Price Performance

NASDAQ OPT remained flat at $3.41 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.08. Opthea has a 12 month low of $1.79 and a 12 month high of $6.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in Opthea in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Opthea during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Opthea in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Opthea in the third quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Opthea during the third quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on OPT shares. Leerink Partners downgraded Opthea from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $1.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 price target (down from $8.00) on shares of Opthea in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Opthea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Opthea to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Opthea from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1.33.

Opthea Company Profile

Opthea Limited, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapies primarily for eye disease in Australia. The company's development activities are based on the intellectual property portfolio covering Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF) VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and VEGF Receptor-3 for the treatment of diseases associated with blood and lymphatic vessel growth, as well as vascular leakage.