Bros. Advisors Lp Baker Acquires 2,608,696 Shares of Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) Stock

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD) Director Bros. Advisors Lp Baker acquired 2,608,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.00 per share, with a total value of $60,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 18,358,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,251,756. This trade represents a 16.56% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Kodiak Sciences Stock Performance

KOD stock opened at $26.00 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.31 and a beta of 2.68. Kodiak Sciences Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.92 and a fifty-two week high of $28.79.

Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($1.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.07) by ($0.09). Equities analysts forecast that Kodiak Sciences Inc. will post -3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Kodiak Sciences

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KOD. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Kodiak Sciences by 131.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 5,276 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 73,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 6,018 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Kodiak Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at $392,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Kodiak Sciences by 729.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 18,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 75,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 15,075 shares during the period. 89.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KOD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Chardan Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research report on Monday, November 17th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Kodiak Sciences from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Barclays upgraded shares of Kodiak Sciences from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $7.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Kodiak Sciences from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.67.

Kodiak Sciences Company Profile

Kodiak Sciences, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that focuses on the discovery and development of novel therapies for retinal diseases. The company’s proprietary technology centers on antibody biopolymer conjugates (ABCs), which are designed to extend durability, enhance tissue penetration and improve the safety profile of existing therapeutic modalities. Kodiak’s research and development efforts target conditions such as wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME) and other serious ophthalmic disorders.

The lead product candidate in Kodiak’s pipeline is KSI-301, an anti-VEGF antibody biopolymer conjugate administered via intravitreal injection.