Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA - Get Free Report) 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 daily trading volume, of 311,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Braidwell LP increased its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,894,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,334,000 after purchasing an additional 836,210 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 10.2% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,419,103 shares of the company's stock worth $45,165,000 after acquiring an additional 223,094 shares in the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 36,925.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 696,810 shares of the company's stock worth $17,413,000 after acquiring an additional 694,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 664,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,398,000 after acquiring an additional 157,741 shares in the last quarter. 53.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of KNSA stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 394,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,435. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -142.92 and a beta of 0.27. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.15. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $16.56 and a 52 week high of $28.15.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.31% and a negative net margin of 2.36%. The business had revenue of $112.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 67.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KNSA. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target 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.