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

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 2,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.97, for a total value of $316,156.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 102,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,425.93. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gilbert H. Kliman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total transaction of $288,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,336 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,603 shares of company stock worth $2,605,678. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Glaukos

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Glaukos in the 4th quarter valued at about $390,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Glaukos by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC bought a new position in Glaukos in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. LVW Advisors LLC grew its position in Glaukos by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new position in Glaukos in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,672,000. Institutional investors own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

Glaukos Stock Performance

Shares of GKOS stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $156.60. The stock had a trading volume of 529,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.71. Glaukos has a twelve month low of $83.90 and a twelve month high of $161.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of -51.85 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on GKOS shares. Piper Sandler set a $140.00 price target on shares of Glaukos in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Glaukos from $152.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Glaukos from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Stephens raised shares of Glaukos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Glaukos from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $162.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.