Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, plc (NASDAQ:KNSA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International received a “Moderate Buy” consensus from nine analysts, with eight buy ratings and one hold. The average 12-month price target is about $60.86.
• The company’s recent earnings beat expectations, reporting $0.27 EPS versus the $0.18 consensus and revenue of $214.27 million, up 55.5% year over year. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 1.24.
• Insider selling has been notable, including a 47.1% reduction in ownership by insider John F. Paolini and additional sales by COO Ross Moat. Despite that, institutional ownership remains high at 53.95%.

Shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, plc (NASDAQ:KNSA - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.8571.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KNSA shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John F. Paolini sold 58,424 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.71, for a total transaction of $3,137,953.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 65,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,524,611.33. This trade represents a 47.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Ross Moat sold 2,367 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total value of $114,988.86. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,368.82. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 653,301 shares of company stock valued at $34,046,073. Company insiders own 51.98% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International by 281.9% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 77,984 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 57,566 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International in the third quarter valued at about $6,163,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International by 176.1% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 282,288 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,961,000 after purchasing an additional 180,029 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,112,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,409,000 after purchasing an additional 49,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 77,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 28,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.95% of the company's stock.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:KNSA opened at $52.30 on Wednesday. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International has a twelve month low of $26.27 and a twelve month high of $59.87. The company has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.11 and a beta of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.10.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International (NASDAQ:KNSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.09. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 9.69%.The business had revenue of $214.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $206.11 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International Company Profile

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, acquiring and developing therapeutics for patients suffering from lifethreatening and debilitating immune-mediated diseases. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, Kiniksa applies a patient-centric approach to build a diversified portfolio of marketed medicines and clinical-stage candidates targeting inflammation and immunology. The company's core mission is to address complex conditions with significant unmet medical needs by advancing both novel and differentiated therapies.

The company's lead marketed product is Ilaris (canakinumab), an interleukin-1β blocker licensed for the treatment of cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, adult-onset Still's disease and Schnitzler syndrome.

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