Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CYTK. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cytokinetics in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Cytokinetics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cytokinetics from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Cytokinetics from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Cytokinetics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.20.

Cytokinetics Price Performance

NASDAQ CYTK opened at $75.87 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.43 and its 200-day moving average is $71.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.51 and a beta of 0.39. Cytokinetics has a one year low of $35.22 and a one year high of $88.31.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.50) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.63) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $28.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.12) EPS. Cytokinetics’s quarterly revenue was down 57.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cytokinetics will post -6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cytokinetics

In other news, CEO Robert I. Blum sold 7,500 shares of Cytokinetics stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.76, for a total value of $575,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 377,820 shares in the company, valued at $29,001,463.20. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Sung Lee sold 1,112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.79, for a total transaction of $97,622.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,550,171.59. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 115,179 shares of company stock valued at $9,117,354 in the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cytokinetics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cytokinetics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,048,131 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $765,538,000 after acquiring an additional 191,336 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 144,426 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,177,000 after acquiring an additional 44,343 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Cytokinetics by 63.8% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 405,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,502,000 after purchasing an additional 157,700 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cytokinetics in the fourth quarter valued at $51,281,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cytokinetics by 181.9% during the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 479,611 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,473,000 after purchasing an additional 309,503 shares during the period.

About Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics, Inc is a late‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel small‐molecule therapeutics that modulate muscle function. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company applies its proprietary insights in muscle biology to address diseases characterized by impaired muscle performance. Its research spans both cardiac and skeletal muscle targets, aiming to deliver innovative medicines for conditions with significant unmet medical need.

The company’s most advanced program, omecamtiv mecarbil, is being evaluated for the treatment of heart failure by enhancing cardiac muscle contractility.