KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALV) Short Interest Update

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALV) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 6,842,479 shares, a decline of 43.2% from the May 14th total of 12,052,446 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,481,348 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 13.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on KALV. HC Wainwright cut shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $37.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp cut shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners cut shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.60.

Insider Transactions at KalVista Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Benjamin L. Palleiko sold 10,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.78, for a total value of $292,598.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 479,989 shares in the company, valued at $12,854,105.42. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Brian Piekos sold 1,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.22, for a total transaction of $37,649.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $366,993. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,602 shares of company stock worth $4,656,670. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KalVista Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 45.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,626 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 47.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,041 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 54,376 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 137.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,917 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,686 shares in the last quarter.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KALV opened at $27.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.18, a quick ratio of 5.10 and a current ratio of 5.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -7.80 and a beta of -0.12. KalVista Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $9.83 and a fifty-two week high of $27.00.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $40.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.03 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that KalVista Pharmaceuticals will post -1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

KalVista Pharmaceuticals is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of small‐molecule protease inhibitors for orphan and specialty disease indications. The firm’s scientific platform centers on selective inhibition of plasma kallikrein, a serine protease implicated in disorders characterized by vascular leak, edema and inflammation. KalVista’s approach leverages oral and intravitreal delivery formats to target both systemic and ophthalmic conditions.

The company’s lead programs include an oral plasma kallikrein inhibitor in clinical trials for the acute treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks and an intravitreal kallikrein inhibitor being evaluated for diabetic macular edema.