Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GKOS. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Glaukos from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Glaukos in a report on Tuesday. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Glaukos from $141.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Glaukos from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Glaukos from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Glaukos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.17.

Glaukos Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE GKOS opened at $103.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of -31.43 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 5.43, a quick ratio of 4.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Glaukos has a 1 year low of $73.16 and a 1 year high of $148.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.31 and its 200-day moving average is $114.27.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $150.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.00 million. Glaukos had a negative net margin of 34.34% and a negative return on equity of 6.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.22) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Glaukos will post -0.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Glaukos news, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 19,573 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.54, for a total value of $2,809,508.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 73,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,538,563.26. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Alex R. Thurman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,115,340. The trade was a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 45,930 shares of company stock valued at $6,321,363 in the last three months. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Corp boosted its position in shares of Glaukos by 1,715.4% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 236 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Glaukos during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Glaukos by 102.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 312 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Glaukos by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Glaukos by 159.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 368 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. 99.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Glaukos Company Profile

Glaukos Corporation is a medical technology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies for patients with glaucoma and other chronic eye diseases. The company’s core offerings focus on micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), designed to reduce intraocular pressure and manage glaucoma more safely and effectively than traditional surgical approaches. Glaukos’s flagship products include the iStent, iStent inject and iStent infinite trabecular micro-bypass stents, which are implanted during cataract surgery to improve aqueous outflow and help control eye pressure.

Beyond its MIGS portfolio, Glaukos has expanded into sustained drug-delivery solutions.