Short Interest in Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) Increases By 111.8%

Sol-Gel Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLGL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 53,063 shares, an increase of 111.8% from the May 14th total of 25,059 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 45,645 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Sol-Gel Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLGL traded down $1.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.44. The company had a trading volume of 44,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,584. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -215.99 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.38. Sol-Gel Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $6.90 and a fifty-two week high of $97.97.

Sol-Gel Technologies (NASDAQ:SLGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported ($1.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.86) by $1.55. The business had revenue of $0.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.90 million. Sol-Gel Technologies had a negative return on equity of 3.17% and a negative net margin of 5.66%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sol-Gel Technologies will post -8.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SLGL. Weiss Ratings lowered Sol-Gel Technologies from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Lifesci Capital raised Sol-Gel Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. TD Cowen began coverage on Sol-Gel Technologies in a report on Friday, May 29th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Sol-Gel Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sol-Gel Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Opaleye Management Inc. purchased 1,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.87 per share, with a total value of $129,527.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 488,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,661,782.19. This represents a 0.40% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 66.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $748,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sol-Gel Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,773,000. Finally, Opaleye Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sol-Gel Technologies by 121.5% in the fourth quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 453,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,121,000 after buying an additional 248,904 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.18% of the company’s stock.

Sol-Gel Technologies Company Profile

Sol-Gel Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: SLGL) is a U.S.-based advanced materials company specializing in the development and commercialization of nanostructured materials using proprietary sol-gel processes. Leveraging expertise in materials chemistry and thin-film deposition, the company focuses on the production of metal oxide powders, sols, coatings and functional inks designed to enhance performance in a variety of industrial and commercial applications.

The company’s product portfolio includes corrosion- and abrasion-resistant coatings, dielectric and conductive films, catalyst supports and specialty fillers.