Fred Alger Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Glaukos Corporation $GKOS

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Glaukos by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 325,540 shares valued at about $36.8 million. Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors owning 99.04% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on GKOS, with 12 Buy ratings, one Hold, and one Sell. Recent price targets were lifted by Needham, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, and the consensus target price is now $148.
• Glaukos posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, reporting a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.18 per share on revenue of $150.57 million, up 41.2% year over year. Despite the improved results, insiders sold shares in recent months, including CFO Alex R. Thurman and Director Leana Wen.

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in Glaukos Corporation (NYSE:GKOS - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 325,540 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 8,736 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned 0.57% of Glaukos worth $36,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GKOS. First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Glaukos by 1,715.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 236 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Glaukos in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 99.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GKOS shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Glaukos from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Glaukos in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Glaukos from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Glaukos in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Alex R. Thurman sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,115,340. The trade was a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Leana Wen sold 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.35, for a total transaction of $243,695.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,829,585.65. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 45,305 shares of company stock valued at $6,259,395 over the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Glaukos Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE GKOS opened at $127.60 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.73, a current ratio of 5.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $124.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.90 and a beta of 0.82. Glaukos Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.16 and a 52 week high of $148.11.

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

Glaukos Company 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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