Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD) Short Interest Up 39.8% in March

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:KOD) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 9,854,423 shares, a growth of 39.8% from the March 15th total of 7,046,846 shares. Currently, 29.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,419,047 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kodiak Sciences from $50.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective (up from $38.00) on shares of Kodiak Sciences in a report on Friday, March 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.43.

Institutional Trading of Kodiak Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KOD. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kodiak Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Kodiak Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 441.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 64,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 52,705 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 79,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Kodiak Sciences by 190.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 244,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 160,225 shares during the period. 89.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kodiak Sciences Trading Down 6.9%

Shares of KOD stock traded down $3.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.98. The stock had a trading volume of 731,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,004,947. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.21 and its 200-day moving average is $24.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.72 and a beta of 2.39. Kodiak Sciences has a 1-year low of $2.17 and a 1-year high of $46.67.

Kodiak Sciences (NASDAQ:KOD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported ($1.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.02) by ($0.02). On average, analysts forecast that Kodiak Sciences will post -3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.