Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 25,500 Glaukos Corporation $GKOS

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Glaukos, buying 25,500 shares worth about $2.745 million in the first quarter.
• Glaukos has received a generally positive analyst outlook, with 12 Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, plus an average price target of $149.17.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of -$0.18 versus the expected -$0.30 and revenue of $150.57 million, up 41.2% year over year.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Glaukos Corporation (NYSE:GKOS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 25,500 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $2,745,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Glaukos by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,383 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Glaukos by 62.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Glaukos by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 710 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Glaukos by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,383 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $947,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Glaukos by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GKOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of Glaukos in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Glaukos from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price target on shares of Glaukos in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Glaukos currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.17.

Glaukos Price Performance

NYSE GKOS opened at $144.37 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $127.29 and its 200-day moving average is $118.21. 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 market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of -44.02 and a beta of 0.83. Glaukos Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.16 and a 12-month high of $148.11.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Alex R. Thurman sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $1,400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,115,340. This trade represents a 18.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 19,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,829,585.65. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,273 shares of company stock valued at $5,832,003. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Glaukos

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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