Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after HC Wainwright upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $18.49, but opened at $20.02. HC Wainwright now has a $24.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $5.00. Kodiak Sciences shares last traded at $19.4050, with a volume of 142,858 shares traded.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Chardan Capital reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Barclays raised shares of Kodiak Sciences from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $7.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kodiak Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Lifesci Capital initiated coverage on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kodiak Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 131.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 5,276 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 256.4% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 5,815 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Kodiak Sciences during the first quarter worth $49,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 15,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 729.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 18,504 shares during the period. 89.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kodiak Sciences Trading Up 6.2%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.53 and a 200-day moving average of $8.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 2.88.

Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The company reported ($1.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.01) by ($0.02). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kodiak Sciences Inc. will post -3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kodiak Sciences Company Profile

Kodiak Sciences Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, researches, develops, and commercializes therapeutics to treat retinal diseases. Its lead product candidate is tarcocimab tedromer (KSI-301), an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibody biopolymer that is in Phase IIb/III clinical study to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well as Phase III clinical study for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, naïve macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion, and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy.