Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:KNSA) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,851 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,100 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,981,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,833,000 after buying an additional 16,595 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its position in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 10.2% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 2,419,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,165,000 after acquiring an additional 223,094 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 31.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 664,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,398,000 after acquiring an additional 157,741 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 649,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,234,000 after purchasing an additional 49,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals by 159.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 621,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,612,000 after purchasing an additional 382,539 shares during the last quarter. 53.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KNSA. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider John F. Paolini sold 60,692 shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.12, for a total transaction of $1,585,275.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,359,232.56. This trade represents a 53.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Eben Tessari sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.99, for a total value of $437,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 116,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,923,205.25. This represents a 13.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 112,692 shares of company stock valued at $2,950,315. 54.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of KNSA opened at $21.28 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -152.00 and a beta of 0.35. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. has a one year low of $15.52 and a one year high of $28.15.

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KNSA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.17). Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 2.36% and a negative return on equity of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $112.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 67.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.