KALA BIO, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

KALA BIO, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 403,121 shares, a growth of 57.9% from the August 15th total of 255,232 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 286,651 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KALA BIO

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KALA. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of KALA BIO by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,804,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 818,962 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in KALA BIO in the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of KALA BIO by 920.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 417,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 376,612 shares during the period. 24.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KALA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of KALA BIO from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of KALA BIO in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KALA BIO presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

KALA BIO Price Performance

KALA stock opened at $0.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $0.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.46. KALA BIO has a fifty-two week low of $0.49 and a fifty-two week high of $993.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.02 and a beta of -2.28.

KALA BIO (NASDAQ:KALA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported ($21.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($6.00) by ($15.32).

KALA BIO Company Profile

KALA BIO, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing regenerative therapies for rare diseases. The company uses its secretome-based platform, which is designed to harness biologically active proteins, growth factors and other components released by human cells, to develop treatments intended to repair damaged tissue and address underlying disease mechanisms.

KALA BIO’s lead investigational product is KPI-012, an engineered human mesenchymal stem cell secretome being developed for persistent corneal epithelial defects (PCED) associated with limbal stem cell deficiency.