Investors Buy Large Volume of KalVista Pharmaceuticals Put Options (NASDAQ:KALV)

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALV) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 5,001 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 613% compared to the typical volume of 701 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Benjamin L. Palleiko sold 7,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.84, for a total transaction of $115,536.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 395,189 shares in the company, valued at $6,259,793.76. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul K. Audhya sold 2,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.42, for a total transaction of $31,349.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 122,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,017.10. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,856 shares of company stock worth $374,910. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KalVista Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KALV. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in KalVista Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 391.9% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 200,991 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after buying an additional 160,128 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,501,119 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,464,000 after purchasing an additional 88,720 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 25.9% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 12,613 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 2,593 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in KalVista Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KALV opened at $11.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $579.50 million, a PE ratio of -2.91 and a beta of -0.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $12.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.81. KalVista Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $7.30 and a 1-year high of $17.28.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.96) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KalVista Pharmaceuticals will post -3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 12th. JMP Securities raised their price target on KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.63.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of drug therapies inhibitors for diseases with unmet needs. The company’s product candidate is Sebetralstat, a small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitor targeting the disease of hereditary angioedema (HAE).