Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Glaukos from hold to buy, adding to a generally bullish analyst backdrop for the stock. The company now has 12 Buy ratings, one Hold, and one Sell, with a consensus target price of $148.
• Glaukos beat first-quarter expectations, reporting an EPS loss of ($0.18) versus estimates for ($0.30) and revenue of $150.57 million versus the expected $137 million. Revenue rose 41.2% year over year, though the company still posted a negative net margin and return on equity.
• Insiders sold shares during the period, including CFO Alex R. Thurman and Director Leana Wen, while institutional ownership remains very high at 99.04%. Several large investors also increased their stakes, suggesting continued strong outside interest in GKOS.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

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

Glaukos Stock Performance

Shares of GKOS opened at $126.76 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $124.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.18. Glaukos has a 52 week low of $73.16 and a 52 week high of $148.11. The company has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of -38.65 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 4.73 and a current ratio of 5.43.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $137.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 41.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Glaukos will post -0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Alex R. Thurman sold 10,000 shares of the company'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. This represents a 18.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Leana Wen sold 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $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 a total of 45,930 shares of company stock valued at $6,321,363 in the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Glaukos

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GKOS. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Glaukos by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 449,846 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $36,685,000 after purchasing an additional 43,750 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Glaukos by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 670,083 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $54,645,000 after purchasing an additional 27,646 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Glaukos by 460.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,232 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 49,492 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Glaukos by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 355,279 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $39,336,000 after purchasing an additional 87,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Glaukos during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,157,000. 99.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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