Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on SLGL. Mizuho initiated coverage on Sol-Gel Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $285.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Sol-Gel Technologies in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sol-Gel Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $197.50.

Sol-Gel Technologies Price Performance

Shares of SLGL stock traded down $4.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $64.25. The stock had a trading volume of 69,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,643. The firm has a market cap of $210.10 million, a PE ratio of -11.39 and a beta of 1.14. Sol-Gel Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $28.81 and a fifty-two week high of $97.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.04.

Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 21st. The company reported ($1.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.36) by $1.23. The firm had revenue of $0.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.07 million. Sol-Gel Technologies had a negative return on equity of 44.05% and a negative net margin of 910.14%. On average, analysts expect that Sol-Gel Technologies will post -5.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Opaleye Management Inc. acquired 35,113 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $69.32 per share, with a total value of $2,434,033.16. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 520,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,046,400. This trade represents a 7.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders bought a total of 53,430 shares of company stock worth $3,684,739 over the last three months. 66.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Sol-Gel Technologies stock. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,773,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 1.25% of Sol-Gel Technologies at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.18% of the company’s stock.

Sol-Gel Technologies Company Profile

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLGL) is an Israeli specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing topical dermatological treatments. The company uses proprietary silica-based microsponge technology designed to encapsulate and gradually release active pharmaceutical ingredients in the skin.

Its marketed products include TWYNEO, a topical cream combining tretinoin and benzoyl peroxide for the treatment of acne vulgaris, and EPSOLAY, a topical benzoyl peroxide cream for the treatment of inflammatory lesions associated with rosacea.