Kodiak Sciences Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:KOD)

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 3,472 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,256% compared to the typical daily volume of 256 put options.

Kodiak Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ KOD traded up $14.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $37.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,297,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,270. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.73 and a beta of 2.61. Kodiak Sciences has a twelve month low of $1.92 and a twelve month high of $38.95. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KOD shares. UBS Group began coverage on Kodiak Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kodiak Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kodiak Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOD. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 19,919,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608,696 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP purchased a new position in shares of Kodiak Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,955,000. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Kodiak Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,603,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kodiak Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,950,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 298.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,303,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,433,000 after purchasing an additional 976,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.06% of the company’s stock.

About Kodiak Sciences

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.