Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS) Short Interest Up 18.3% in January

Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,040,000 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the December 31st total of 2,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 567,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GKOS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Glaukos from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Glaukos in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Glaukos in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens raised Glaukos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Glaukos from $145.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.08.

Insider Activity

In other Glaukos news, Director Gilbert H. Kliman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total value of $288,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,656,707.36. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 3,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total transaction of $498,700.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 102,169 shares in the company, valued at $15,310,024.65. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,328 shares of company stock worth $2,289,521. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Glaukos during the third quarter worth $25,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Glaukos in the 4th quarter valued at about $90,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Glaukos by 2,263.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Glaukos by 16.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

Glaukos Price Performance

GKOS traded down $1.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $156.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 475,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,003. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.86 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.17. Glaukos has a twelve month low of $83.90 and a twelve month high of $163.71.

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

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.