Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) Shares Up 6% – Still a Buy?

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD) shares traded up 6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $28.50 and last traded at $29.10. 116,876 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 600,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on KOD. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Kodiak Sciences from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Lifesci Capital started coverage on Kodiak Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Kodiak Sciences from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $15.00 to $24.00 in a report on Friday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kodiak Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.67.

Kodiak Sciences Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.20 and a beta of 2.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.77.

Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($1.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by ($0.09). As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kodiak Sciences Inc. will post -3.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kodiak Sciences

In other Kodiak Sciences news, Director Bros. Advisors Lp Baker acquired 2,608,696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.00 per share, for a total transaction of $60,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 18,358,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,251,756. This trade represents a 16.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 45.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kodiak Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in Kodiak Sciences by 256.4% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 5,815 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Kodiak Sciences in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Kodiak Sciences by 21.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 15,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Kodiak Sciences by 729.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 21,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 18,504 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kodiak Sciences in the first quarter worth about $94,000. 89.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.