Citigroup Upgrades Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) to Buy

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) was upgraded by Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $162.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their previous price target of $132.00. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on GKOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Glaukos from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Glaukos from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler set a $140.00 price target on Glaukos in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group started coverage on Glaukos in a report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price target for the company. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on Glaukos from $140.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.17.

Glaukos Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE GKOS opened at $140.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.51 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.60. Glaukos has a 52 week low of $59.58 and a 52 week high of $147.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a current ratio of 5.54.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.20. The business had revenue of $96.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.50 million. Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 18.99% and a negative net margin of 42.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.50) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Glaukos will post -1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Glaukos

In other news, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 2,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.97, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Glaukos

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Glaukos by 294.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,183,766 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $284,501,000 after buying an additional 1,630,270 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Glaukos by 5.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,954,449 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $254,626,000 after buying an additional 98,109 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Glaukos by 3.8% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,278,723 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $151,337,000 after buying an additional 47,308 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in Glaukos by 2.0% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,245,185 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $162,223,000 after buying an additional 24,370 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Glaukos by 6.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,172,016 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $152,722,000 after buying an additional 66,134 shares during the period. 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.