Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) Shares Up 6.6% – Time to Buy?

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD)’s share price traded up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $43.94 and last traded at $43.9590. Approximately 68,404 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 900,653 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KOD has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kodiak Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Chardan Capital upgraded shares of Kodiak Sciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a report on Friday, March 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.14.

Kodiak Sciences Stock Up 4.4%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.79. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.32 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.93) by ($0.01). On average, equities analysts predict that Kodiak Sciences Inc. will post -3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kodiak Sciences

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KOD. Artia Global Partners LP bought a new position in Kodiak Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $476,000. PSP Research LLC bought a new stake in Kodiak Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $543,000. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kodiak Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $618,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Kodiak Sciences by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,313,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,683,000 after acquiring an additional 363,103 shares during the period. Finally, Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in Kodiak Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $5,802,000. 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.