Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) Short Interest Up 11.8% in March

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,210,000 shares, an increase of 11.8% from the March 15th total of 2,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 375,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up from $28.00) on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of KNSA opened at $17.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.89 and a beta of 0.27. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $10.65 and a twelve month high of $22.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.63 and a 200-day moving average of $17.97.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.15. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 5.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.12%. The business had revenue of $83.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.31 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Sanj K. Patel sold 12,742 shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total value of $273,825.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,517,065.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Sanj K. Patel sold 5,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $117,222.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 65,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,365,252. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanj K. Patel sold 12,742 shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.49, for a total transaction of $273,825.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 70,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,517,065.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,109 shares of company stock valued at $709,929. Corporate insiders own 54.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNSA. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% in the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 437.7% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 4,001 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. 53.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.