Opthea Limited (NASDAQ:OPT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Opthea Limited (NASDAQ:OPT) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1.33.

OPT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Opthea from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $1.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Opthea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Opthea from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $1.00 price objective (down from $8.00) on shares of Opthea in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Opthea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $2.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Opthea Price Performance

OPT stock opened at $3.41 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.81. Opthea has a 12 month low of $1.79 and a 12 month high of $6.30.

Institutional Trading of Opthea

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OPT. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Opthea during the first quarter worth $34,000. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in Opthea during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Opthea during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Opthea during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC raised its position in Opthea by 67.4% during the first quarter. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC now owns 33,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 13,350 shares during the period. 55.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.