Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) Short Interest Up 53.4% in February

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,960,000 shares, an increase of 53.4% from the January 31st total of 1,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 463,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KNSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals news, COO Eben Tessari sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.24, for a total value of $255,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 88,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,622,904. This trade represents a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,123 shares of company stock worth $553,204. Corporate insiders own 54.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $158,000. Bellevue Group AG purchased a new position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $160,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 117.1% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.95% of the company’s stock.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.33. 1,299,018 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 607,910. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.44. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.56 and a 12-month high of $28.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -152.35 and a beta of 0.32.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.06). Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 7.31% and a negative net margin of 2.36%. The company had revenue of $122.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $123.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 46.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.