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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.60.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KNSA traded down $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $21.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,299,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,910. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.68 and a 200-day moving average of $22.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -152.35 and a beta of 0.32. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.56 and a 12-month high of $28.15.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $122.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.42 million. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 2.36% and a negative return on equity of 7.31%. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 46.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Eben Tessari sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.57, for a total transaction of $273,980.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 81,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,604,250.75. The trade was a 14.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 29,123 shares of company stock valued at $553,204 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 54.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,192,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $4,997,000. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC grew its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 755,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,874,000 after acquiring an additional 108,102 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $675,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.95% of the company’s stock.

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.