Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) Short Interest Down 18.9% in December

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,260,000 shares, a drop of 18.9% from the November 30th total of 4,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 311,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Eben Tessari sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $456,790.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 109,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,955,028.25. This represents a 13.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Ragosa sold 8,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total value of $192,385.05. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,449.10. This trade represents a 28.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,092 shares of company stock valued at $673,039 in the last ninety days. 54.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KNSA. Braidwell LP lifted its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,894,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,334,000 after acquiring an additional 836,210 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 36,925.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 696,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,413,000 after purchasing an additional 694,928 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 159.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 621,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,612,000 after purchasing an additional 382,539 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 1,064.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 345,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,624,000 after purchasing an additional 315,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,419,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,165,000 after buying an additional 223,094 shares during the last quarter. 53.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.01. 394,362 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,435. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.56 and a 52-week high of $28.15. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -142.92 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.15.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $112.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.51 million. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 7.31% and a negative net margin of 2.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 67.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KNSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.60.

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.