Traders Purchase Large Volume of Kodiak Sciences Call Options (NASDAQ:KOD)

Key Points

• Traders bought 3,476 Kodiak Sciences call options on Friday, about 572% above the usual volume, signaling unusually strong bullish options activity.
• KOD shares fell 1.6% to $39.44, even as the stock has traded between a 1-year low of $4.32 and a high of $47.84; the company recently reported an EPS loss that slightly missed expectations.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with six Buy ratings and a consensus Moderate Buy rating, alongside an average price target of $42.14.

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 3,476 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 572% compared to the typical volume of 517 call options.

Kodiak Sciences Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ KOD traded down $0.64 on Friday, hitting $39.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 302,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,398. The company's 50-day moving average is $36.91 and its 200 day moving average is $32.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of -9.56 and a beta of 2.19. Kodiak Sciences has a 1-year low of $4.32 and a 1-year high of $47.84.

Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.94) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.01). On average, equities analysts expect that Kodiak Sciences will post -3.89 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KOD. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 19,919,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,940,000 after buying an additional 2,608,696 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,313,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,683,000 after acquiring an additional 363,103 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP acquired a new position in shares of Kodiak Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $57,955,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 55.1% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,055,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,668,000 after acquiring an additional 730,000 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,732,015 shares of the company's stock worth $48,427,000 after acquiring an additional 899,572 shares in the last quarter. 89.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KOD shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kodiak Sciences from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Chardan Capital upgraded shares of Kodiak Sciences from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kodiak Sciences from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Six 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Kodiak Sciences has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.14.

Kodiak Sciences Company Profile

Kodiak Sciences, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that focuses on the discovery and development of novel therapies for retinal diseases. The company's proprietary technology centers on antibody biopolymer conjugates (ABCs), which are designed to extend durability, enhance tissue penetration and improve the safety profile of existing therapeutic modalities. Kodiak's research and development efforts target conditions such as wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), diabetic macular edema (DME) and other serious ophthalmic disorders.

The lead product candidate in Kodiak's pipeline is KSI-301, an anti-VEGF antibody biopolymer conjugate administered via intravitreal injection.

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