Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS - Free Report) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 101,103 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.61% of Glaukos worth $23,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GKOS. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Glaukos in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Glaukos in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Glaukos by 17.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Glaukos in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Pathstone Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Glaukos in the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 99.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GKOS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Glaukos from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BTIG Research upped their target price on Glaukos from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Glaukos from $103.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Glaukos from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Glaukos from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $108.64.

Insider Transactions at Glaukos

In other news, Director Marc Stapley sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.80, for a total transaction of $705,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,208. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Alex R. Thurman sold 353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.51, for a total transaction of $39,010.03. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,647 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,707,509.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Stapley sold 6,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.80, for a total value of $705,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,208. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 238,030 shares of company stock worth $22,629,937. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Glaukos Stock Performance

NYSE:GKOS traded down $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $109.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 270,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,832. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.91 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 4.68 and a current ratio of 5.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.86 and a 200-day moving average of $86.30. Glaukos Co. has a 12 month low of $54.38 and a 12 month high of $113.97.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.70) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.58) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $85.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.60 million. Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 24.69% and a negative net margin of 43.15%. The firm's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.59) EPS. Research analysts expect that Glaukos Co. will post -2.26 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.