Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 31,800 Shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA - Free Report) by 39.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,400 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,800 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals worth $2,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 10,862 shares of the company's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 49,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,814 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 67,533 shares of the company's stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 23,095 shares of the company's stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KNSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sanj K. Patel sold 2,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.03, for a total value of $77,630.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 96,674 shares in the company, valued at $2,613,098.22. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Ragosa sold 36,372 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.25, for a total value of $809,277.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,958 shares in the company, valued at $510,815.50. The trade was a 61.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 231,640 shares of company stock worth $5,669,136. 54.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:KNSA traded down $0.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $26.07. 82,794 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 483,275. The business's fifty day moving average is $22.86 and its 200-day moving average is $21.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -186.67 and a beta of 0.07. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. has a one year low of $17.38 and a one year high of $28.56.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.09. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 2.36% and a negative return on equity of 7.31%. The business had revenue of $137.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 72.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. will post -0.55 EPS for the current year.

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.