Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD)

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 3,476 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 572% compared to the average daily volume of 517 call options.

Kodiak Sciences Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of KOD traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.31. 996,376 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 807,066. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.42. Kodiak Sciences has a 52 week low of $4.32 and a 52 week high of $47.84. The company has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.91 and a beta of 2.19.

Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.94) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.93) by ($0.01). Analysts predict that Kodiak Sciences will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kodiak Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Chardan Capital raised Kodiak Sciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Kodiak Sciences from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kodiak Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kodiak Sciences

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its holdings in Kodiak Sciences by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 19,919,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608,696 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,313,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,683,000 after buying an additional 363,103 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP bought a new position in Kodiak Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $57,955,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 55.1% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,055,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,668,000 after buying an additional 730,000 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,732,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,427,000 after acquiring an additional 899,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.06% of the company’s stock.

Kodiak Sciences Company Profile

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.