Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $154.88 and last traded at $154.47, with a volume of 40438 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $151.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GKOS shares. Citigroup raised Glaukos from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $162.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Glaukos in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Glaukos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Glaukos from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Stephens raised Glaukos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.75.

Glaukos Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.81 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $142.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.71.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.20. The company had revenue of $96.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.50 million. Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 18.99% and a negative net margin of 42.43%. Glaukos’s revenue was up 23.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.50) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Glaukos Co. will post -1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 2,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.97, for a total value of $316,156.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 102,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,425.93. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gilbert H. Kliman sold 10,000 shares of Glaukos stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.28, for a total value of $1,502,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,859,454.08. This trade represents a 23.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,603 shares of company stock worth $2,605,678 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Glaukos

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GKOS. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Glaukos in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Glaukos by 2,263.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Glaukos by 16.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos during the third quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Glaukos in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

Glaukos Company Profile

Glaukos Corporation, an ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical technology company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders, and retinal diseases. It offers iStent and iStent inject W micro-bypass stents that enhance aqueous humor outflow inserted in cataract surgery to treat mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma.