Short Interest in Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS) Increases By 18.3%

Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,040,000 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the December 15th total of 2,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 567,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Insider Activity

In other Glaukos news, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 2,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.97, for a total transaction of $316,156.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 102,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,425.93. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gilbert H. Kliman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total transaction of $288,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,656,707.36. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,603 shares of company stock worth $2,605,678. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Glaukos

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos in the third quarter worth $25,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Glaukos by 2,263.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Glaukos by 16.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos in the fourth quarter worth $221,000. Finally, EWA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos in the third quarter worth $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

Glaukos Stock Up 0.1 %

GKOS traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $156.60. 529,055 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 558,098. Glaukos has a one year low of $83.90 and a one year high of $161.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.60. The company has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of -51.85 and a beta of 1.04.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.20. Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 18.99% and a negative net margin of 42.43%. The company had revenue of $96.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $91.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.50) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Glaukos will post -1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GKOS. Piper Sandler set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Glaukos in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $145.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Glaukos from $140.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Glaukos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Glaukos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.75.

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.