StockNews.com Downgrades Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) to Sell

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on GKOS. BTIG Research upped their target price on Glaukos from $83.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Glaukos from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Glaukos from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $59.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of Glaukos in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.00.

Glaukos Stock Performance

GKOS opened at $67.45 on Friday. Glaukos has a 52-week low of $40.45 and a 52-week high of $80.28. The company has a quick ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 6.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.55 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.21.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.02. Glaukos had a negative net margin of 42.61% and a negative return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $80.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.83) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Glaukos will post -2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas William Burns sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $3,239,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,785 shares in the company, valued at $3,943,424.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Thomas William Burns sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $3,239,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,943,424.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gilbert H. Kliman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.56, for a total transaction of $745,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 29,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,216,296. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Glaukos

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Glaukos by 154.8% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,152,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,346,000 after buying an additional 700,200 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Glaukos by 304.3% during the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 691,899 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $34,664,000 after purchasing an additional 520,758 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Glaukos during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,771,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Glaukos during the fourth quarter worth $17,593,000. Finally, Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Glaukos during the second quarter worth $22,075,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

About Glaukos

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