Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) Shares Up 4.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) rose 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $23.80 and last traded at $24.09. Approximately 104,316 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 602,096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KNSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $37.17.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -166.85 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.07.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.06). Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 7.31% and a negative net margin of 2.36%. The business had revenue of $122.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $123.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 46.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CAO Michael R. Megna sold 9,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.45, for a total transaction of $203,194.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,553.60. This represents a 25.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Eben Tessari sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.24, for a total transaction of $255,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 88,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,622,904. The trade was a 13.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,766 shares of company stock worth $2,011,735 over the last 90 days. 54.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Braidwell LP raised its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,452,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,289,000 after purchasing an additional 557,934 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 795,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,737,000 after buying an additional 54,361 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 779,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,422,000 after acquiring an additional 263,146 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 771,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,262,000 after acquiring an additional 29,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC raised its position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 765,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,141,000 after acquiring an additional 10,209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.95% of the company’s stock.

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.