KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV) Stock Price Up 8.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:KALV) traded up 8.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $39.00 to $42.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. KalVista Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $18.82 and last traded at $18.6350. 837,871 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 1,000,371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.14.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on KALV. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded KalVista Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on KalVista Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KalVista Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KalVista Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Benjamin L. Palleiko sold 10,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.57, for a total value of $156,229.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 442,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,895,688.31. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicole Sweeny sold 3,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.57, for a total value of $61,890.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 47,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $731,836.71. This represents a 7.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 33,378 shares of company stock valued at $522,290 in the last three months. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key KalVista Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting KalVista Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target to $42 and kept a “buy” rating (implies ~138% upside vs. the referenced $17.64 base), signaling stronger analyst conviction on KalVista’s outlook. Stifel Nicolaus raises PT to $42
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company raised its price target to $36 and maintains a “buy” rating (~104% upside vs. referenced price), another bullish analyst action supporting the rally. Needham raises PT to $36 TickerReport coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Company reported a strong EKTERLY commercial launch, posting $49.1M in EKTERLY revenue during an eight‑month transition period — this early revenue print validates commercial execution and is a clear positive fundamental catalyst. Earnings call highlights / EKTERLY revenue MSN: EKTERLY revenue
• Neutral Sentiment: Transcripts of the Q1 2025 and eight‑month earnings calls are available for detail on guidance, margins, and commercialization specifics — useful for investors doing deeper due diligence but informational rather than a new catalyst. MSN Q1 2025 transcript Seeking Alpha 8‑month transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported large increases in short interest appear internally inconsistent (values show 0 shares / NaN increases and days‑to‑cover 0.0), suggesting a reporting/data glitch rather than a confirmed shorting pressure signal — monitor for corrected filings.
• Negative Sentiment: Citizens JMP trimmed its price target slightly to $28 (from $29) and rates the stock “market outperform” — a mild negative relative to other, larger upward revisions, but still supportive versus current price. Citizens JMP lowers PT to $28

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its holdings in KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,351,254 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,458,000 after buying an additional 313,205 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $24,360,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $3,494,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,522,000. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KalVista Pharmaceuticals by 364.0% in the second quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 100,000 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 78,450 shares during the last quarter.

KalVista Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $15.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.41. The firm has a market cap of $946.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.74 and a beta of -0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.18, a current ratio of 7.22 and a quick ratio of 7.21.

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.