Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) Shares Up 8.3% – Here’s Why

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD)’s stock price rose 8.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $36.89 and last traded at $36.4540. Approximately 338,742 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 992,208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KOD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kodiak Sciences from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kodiak Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.43.

Kodiak Sciences Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.91 and a beta of 2.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.49.

Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported ($1.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.02) by ($0.02). On average, equities research analysts expect that Kodiak Sciences Inc. will post -3.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Kodiak Sciences

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Kodiak Sciences by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 19,919,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,608,696 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 363,103 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP purchased a new stake in Kodiak Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $57,955,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised 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 purchasing an additional 730,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Kodiak Sciences by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,732,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,427,000 after purchasing an additional 899,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.