Legal & General Group Plc Invests $23.18 Million in Glaukos Corporation $GKOS

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Glaukos Corporation (NYSE:GKOS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 165,836 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $23,177,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GKOS. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Glaukos during the second quarter worth $4,183,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos during the second quarter worth $668,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Glaukos during the second quarter worth $336,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Glaukos in the 2nd quarter worth about $92,476,000. Finally, Fund Advisors of America Inc FL bought a new position in shares of Glaukos in the 2nd quarter worth about $259,000. 99.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GKOS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Glaukos in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Glaukos from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Glaukos from $138.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Glaukos in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on Glaukos from $193.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Glaukos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Glaukos news, Director Leana Wen sold 525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.63, for a total transaction of $88,005.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,535,651.96. The trade was a 2.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Joseph E. Gilliam sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.74, for a total value of $10,784,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 72,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,046,967.12. The trade was a 45.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,025 shares of company stock valued at $19,600,006. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Glaukos Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:GKOS opened at $179.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 5.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $162.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.95. The company has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of -55.37 and a beta of 0.78. Glaukos Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.16 and a fifty-two week high of $191.62.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $185.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $150.93 million. Glaukos had a negative net margin of 30.68% and a negative return on equity of 6.37%. Glaukos’s revenue was up 49.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Glaukos Corporation will post -0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Glaukos Profile

Glaukos Corporation is a medical technology company specializing in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies for patients with glaucoma and other chronic eye diseases. The company’s core offerings focus on micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), designed to reduce intraocular pressure and manage glaucoma more safely and effectively than traditional surgical approaches. Glaukos’s flagship products include the iStent, iStent inject and iStent infinite trabecular micro-bypass stents, which are implanted during cataract surgery to improve aqueous outflow and help control eye pressure.

Beyond its MIGS portfolio, Glaukos has expanded into sustained drug-delivery solutions.