Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Krystal Biotech, Inc. $KRYS

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its Krystal Biotech stake by 1.8% in the first quarter, selling 3,004 shares and ending with 162,070 shares valued at about $41.9 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on KRYS, with 10 Buy ratings and 2 Hold ratings; the consensus price target is about $360.67, and HC Wainwright recently raised its target to $361.
• Krystal Biotech reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.83 versus estimates of $1.45 and revenue of $116.36 million, while insiders also sold shares in pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 transactions.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Krystal Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:KRYS - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 162,070 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,004 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.55% of Krystal Biotech worth $41,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KRYS. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Krystal Biotech by 3,958.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,925 shares of the company's stock worth $1,531,000 after buying an additional 5,779 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Krystal Biotech by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Krystal Biotech by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Krystal Biotech during the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Krystal Biotech by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,949 shares of the company's stock worth $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on KRYS shares. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Krystal Biotech from $310.00 to $361.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Krystal Biotech in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Krystal Biotech in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Krystal Biotech from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Krystal Biotech from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $360.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Krystal Biotech news, EVP John Charles Thomas sold 1,000 shares of Krystal Biotech stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.27, for a total transaction of $347,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $347,270. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suma Krishnan sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.11, for a total value of $7,702,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,378,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $424,623,337.05. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,642 shares of company stock valued at $8,243,923. 13.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Krystal Biotech Price Performance

Shares of KRYS stock opened at $354.86 on Friday. Krystal Biotech, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.50 and a 12 month high of $382.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.44 and a beta of 0.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $331.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.47.

Krystal Biotech (NASDAQ:KRYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.38. Krystal Biotech had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 53.92%.The company had revenue of $116.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.11 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Krystal Biotech, Inc. will post 7.41 EPS for the current year.

Krystal Biotech Profile

Krystal Biotech, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for rare dermatological diseases. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company applies proprietary viral vector delivery technology to enable topical administration of corrective genes directly to the skin. By targeting the underlying genetic causes of inherited skin disorders, Krystal Biotech seeks to address areas of high unmet medical need with potentially transformative treatments.

The company's lead product candidate, KB103, is designed to deliver a functional COL7A1 gene to patients with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB), a severe and often debilitating blistering condition.

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