Traders Purchase Large Volume of KalVista Pharmaceuticals Put Options (NASDAQ:KALV)

KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALV) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 5,001 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 613% compared to the average volume of 701 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 12th. Ten equities research 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, KalVista Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.63.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of KALV traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.75. 249,376 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 883,449. The company has a market cap of $543.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.75 and a beta of -0.04. KalVista Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $7.30 and a 12-month high of $17.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.82.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($1.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $1.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 million. Research analysts expect that KalVista Pharmaceuticals will post -3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paul K. Audhya sold 2,942 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.22, for a total transaction of $38,893.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,584,298.02. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Benjamin L. Palleiko sold 10,940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.22, for a total value of $144,626.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 386,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,114,262.76. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,856 shares of company stock valued at $374,910. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KalVista Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 103,530 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 12,636.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 4,549 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KalVista Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,298,598 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,526,000 after purchasing an additional 43,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 113,124 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 12,776 shares during the period.

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).