Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $162.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their prior price target of $132.00. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.82% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on GKOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Glaukos from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens raised Glaukos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com raised Glaukos from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Glaukos from $145.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Glaukos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.50.

Glaukos Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GKOS opened at $136.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.15 and a beta of 1.03. Glaukos has a 52 week low of $59.58 and a 52 week high of $146.86. The company has a quick ratio of 4.71, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $135.53 and a 200 day moving average of $126.38.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Glaukos news, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 2,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.97, for a total transaction of $316,156.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 102,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,425.93. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Glaukos

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Glaukos in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,832,000. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Glaukos by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 99,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,721,000 after purchasing an additional 31,084 shares during the period. First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Glaukos during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,520,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Glaukos by 186.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,726 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 8,942 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Glaukos by 421.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 79,211 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $10,320,000 after buying an additional 64,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

About Glaukos

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.