Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) Stock

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $149.00 to $176.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.41% from the stock’s previous close.

GKOS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Glaukos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Glaukos from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $145.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stephens raised Glaukos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Glaukos from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.67.

Glaukos Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE GKOS opened at $157.97 on Friday. Glaukos has a 52-week low of $83.90 and a 52-week high of $163.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.31 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $153.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a current ratio of 5.54.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.02). Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 18.99% and a negative net margin of 42.43%. Sell-side analysts expect that Glaukos will post -1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Glaukos

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Kliman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.01, for a total value of $288,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,656,707.36. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 3,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total value of $498,700.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 102,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,310,024.65. This trade represents a 3.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,744 shares of company stock valued at $2,792,151 in the last three months. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Glaukos

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GKOS. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Glaukos during the third quarter valued at $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Glaukos during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos during the 4th quarter valued at about $90,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Glaukos by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 750 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Glaukos in the 4th quarter worth about $125,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

Glaukos Company Profile

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.