Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Stake in Glaukos Corporation $GKOS

Key Points

• Clearbridge Investments cut its Glaukos stake by 76.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 359,530 shares and leaving it with 112,022 shares valued at about $12.65 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with Director Gilbert H. Kliman and COO Joseph E. Gilliam among those selling shares; insiders sold a total of 45,930 shares over the last 90 days.
• Glaukos beat Q1 expectations, reporting EPS of -$0.18 versus the -$0.30 consensus and revenue of $150.57 million, up 41.2% year over year, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating.

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Glaukos Corporation (NYSE:GKOS - Free Report) by 76.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,022 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 359,530 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.20% of Glaukos worth $12,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Glaukos by 1,715.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 236 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Glaukos in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Glaukos by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 345 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Glaukos by 111.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 408 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Glaukos by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 454 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 99.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Glaukos

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Kliman sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.76, for a total value of $703,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 35,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,000,921.28. The trade was a 12.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 19,573 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.54, for a total value of $2,809,508.42. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 73,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,538,563.26. This represents a 21.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 45,930 shares of company stock valued at $6,321,363 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GKOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Glaukos from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Glaukos in a report on Wednesday. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Glaukos in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Glaukos from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Glaukos currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.17.

Glaukos Stock Performance

NYSE GKOS opened at $122.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of -37.34 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 5.43, a quick ratio of 4.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Glaukos Corporation has a twelve month low of $73.16 and a twelve month high of $148.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.93.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.30) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $150.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $137.00 million. Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 6.92% and a negative net margin of 34.34%.The company's revenue was up 41.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.22) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Glaukos Corporation will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Glaukos Profile

Glaukos Corporation is a medical technology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies for patients with glaucoma and other chronic eye diseases. The company's core offerings focus on micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), designed to reduce intraocular pressure and manage glaucoma more safely and effectively than traditional surgical approaches. Glaukos's flagship products include the iStent, iStent inject and iStent infinite trabecular micro-bypass stents, which are implanted during cataract surgery to improve aqueous outflow and help control eye pressure.

Beyond its MIGS portfolio, Glaukos has expanded into sustained drug-delivery solutions.

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