KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV) Trading 5.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALV - Get Free Report) shares traded up 5.5% on Wednesday after JMP Securities raised their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $27.00. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. KalVista Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $15.64 and last traded at $15.77. 354,539 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 548,021 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.95.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on KALV. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Jones Trading reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul K. Audhya sold 2,776 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.84, for a total value of $32,867.84. Following the sale, the insider owned 106,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,262,274.24. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Benjamin L. Palleiko sold 32,979 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.69, for a total transaction of $517,440.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 369,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,798,945.55. This represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,878 shares of company stock worth $723,617. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KalVista Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 4,913,012 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $41,613,000 after buying an additional 701,007 shares during the last quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 4,893,847 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $41,451,000 after buying an additional 572,300 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its holdings in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 4,887,867 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $41,400,000 after buying an additional 1,200,000 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its holdings in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 4,770,000 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $40,402,000 after buying an additional 770,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,298,598 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,526,000 after buying an additional 43,355 shares during the last quarter.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 6.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $721.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.93 and a beta of -0.04. The stock's fifty day moving average is $12.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.23.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($3.69) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by ($2.86). During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.07) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.56 EPS for the current year.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of drug therapies inhibitors for diseases with unmet needs. The company's product candidate is Sebetralstat, a small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitor targeting the disease of hereditary angioedema (HAE).