Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $29.57 and last traded at $29.35, with a volume of 437361 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KNSA. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $38.80.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.2%

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $24.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -210.84 and a beta of 0.06.

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

Insider Transactions at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

In other Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals news, insider Ross Moat sold 18,259 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.29, for a total transaction of $370,475.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $191,030.35. This represents a 65.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sanj K. Patel sold 2,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.03, for a total value of $77,630.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 96,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,613,098.22. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 391,014 shares of company stock valued at $10,101,143 in the last three months. 54.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 84.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. 53.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.