Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 323,397 Shares of Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its stake in Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS - Free Report) by 40.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 471,849 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 323,397 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.86% of Glaukos worth $70,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GKOS. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its position in Glaukos by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 60,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $9,102,000 after purchasing an additional 31,273 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Glaukos by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,974,971 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $895,887,000 after buying an additional 101,838 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Glaukos in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,709,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Glaukos by 606.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 20,247 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $3,036,000 after acquiring an additional 17,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Glaukos by 438.8% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,838 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,940 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.04% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Glaukos to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Glaukos in a research report on Friday, December 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Glaukos from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Glaukos from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Glaukos currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $163.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Glaukos news, CFO Alex R. Thurman sold 1,520 shares of Glaukos stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.84, for a total value of $162,396.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,708,568.04. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tomas Navratil sold 3,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.14, for a total transaction of $502,630.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 72,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,658,380.18. The trade was 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.

Glaukos Stock Down 1.3 %

Glaukos stock traded down $1.27 on Tuesday, hitting $97.15. 908,020 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 607,063. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $128.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.85 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Glaukos Co. has a 1 year low of $88.16 and a 1 year high of $163.71.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.02). Glaukos had a negative return on equity of 16.53% and a negative net margin of 39.04%. The business had revenue of $105.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.72 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Glaukos Co. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

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.