Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AERI) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday, July 24th. The brokerage currently has $66.00 price objective on the stock.
According to Zacks, “Aerie’s efforts on developing two late-stage candidates – Rhopressa and Roclatan – are encouraging. The company resubmitted new drug application (NDA) for lead candidate Rhopressa in Feb 2017. The FDA determined that the application is sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review and set the PDUFA goal date for the completion of review as Feb 28, 2018. Aerie had earlier withdrawn its NDA that was filed in September as a third party manufacturing facility in Tampa, FL was not ready for pre-approval inspection by the FDA. A potential approval and successful commercialization will significantly boost the company’s growth prospects in the global ophthalmic market. The recent data on Roclatan is also positive. Moreover, Aerie’s shares have outperformed the industry in the year so far. However, with no approved product in its portfolio, Aerie depends heavily on a potential approval of Rhopressa.”
A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $62.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 4th. Canaccord Genuity reissued a buy rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, July 3rd. BidaskClub cut shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Saturday, June 17th. Finally, ValuEngine raised shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $66.08.
Shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ AERI) traded down 0.83% during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.70. The stock had a trading volume of 359,976 shares. The firm’s market cap is $1.90 billion. Aerie Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.85 and a 52-week high of $59.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.46.
Aerie Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AERI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.84) by $0.02. On average, analysts anticipate that Aerie Pharmaceuticals will post ($2.57) earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
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In other news, major shareholder Foresite Capital Fund Ii, L.P. sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.95, for a total value of $1,119,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.36% of the company’s stock.
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AERI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 265,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,021,000 after buying an additional 68,360 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S increased its stake in shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 76,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after buying an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals by 19.8% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 90,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,122,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals by 22.1% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 26,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 4,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Mercantile Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals by 29.9% in the first quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 7,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. 92.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Aerie Pharmaceuticals
Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of patients with glaucoma and other diseases of the eye. The Company’s product candidates include Rhopressa (netarsudil ophthalmic solution) 0.02% (Rhopressa), and Roclatan (netarsudil/latanoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.02%/0.005% (Roclatan).
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