Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,260,000 shares, a decrease of 18.9% from the November 30th total of 4,020,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 311,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Eben Tessari sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $456,790.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 109,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,955,028.25. This trade represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Ragosa sold 8,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total value of $192,385.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,449.10. The trade was a 28.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,092 shares of company stock valued at $673,039 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 54.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,997,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 67,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 62.2% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 27,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 10,474 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $4,178,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 1,064.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 345,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,624,000 after buying an additional 315,456 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.95% of the company’s stock.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ KNSA traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.60. The stock had a trading volume of 863,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,292. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of -139.99 and a beta of 0.27. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.56 and a 1 year high of $28.15.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.17). Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 2.36% and a negative return on equity of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $112.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 67.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, acquiring, developing, and commercializing therapeutic medicines for patients suffering from debilitating diseases with significant unmet medical needs worldwide. Its product candidates include ARCALYST, an interleukin-1alpha and interleukin-1beta, for the treatment of recurrent pericarditis, which is an inflammatory cardiovascular disease; Mavrilimumab, a monoclonal antibody inhibitor that completed Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of giant cell arteritis; Vixarelimab, a monoclonal antibody, that is in Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of prurigo nodularis, a chronic inflammatory skin condition; and KPL-404, a monoclonal antibody inhibitor of the CD40- CD154 interaction, a T-cell co-stimulatory signal critical for B-cell maturation, immunoglobulin class switching, and type 1 immune response.