Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,503 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,200 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.10% of Glaukos worth $8,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Glaukos by 294.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,183,766 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $284,501,000 after buying an additional 1,630,270 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Glaukos in the fourth quarter worth about $121,390,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Glaukos in the fourth quarter worth about $16,910,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Glaukos by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,974,971 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $895,887,000 after acquiring an additional 101,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Glaukos by 5.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,954,449 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $254,626,000 after purchasing an additional 98,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.04% of the company’s stock.

Glaukos Price Performance

Shares of GKOS stock opened at $101.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.53 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a current ratio of 5.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.71. Glaukos Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.16 and a fifty-two week high of $163.71.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last released 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). The company had revenue of $105.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $100.72 million. Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 16.53% and a negative net margin of 39.04%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Glaukos Co. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Alex R. Thurman sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $162,396.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,568.04. This represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tomas Navratil sold 3,416 shares of Glaukos stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.14, for a total value of $502,630.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 72,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,658,380.18. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GKOS shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Glaukos from $149.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens raised shares of Glaukos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Glaukos from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Glaukos from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Glaukos from $152.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.25.

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.