Short Interest in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) Grows By 53.4%

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) saw a large growth in short interest in 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 daily volume of 463,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of KNSA opened at $20.28 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -144.85 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.48. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.56 and a fifty-two week high of $28.15.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $122.50 million during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark Ragosa sold 8,969 shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total transaction of $192,385.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,449.10. The trade was a 28.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Eben Tessari sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.24, for a total transaction of $255,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 88,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,622,904. The trade was a 13.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,092 shares of company stock worth $745,589. Corporate insiders own 54.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 112,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 31,800 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 56,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 12,462 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $530,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $293,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 3,357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNSA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.60.

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.