Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $141.1176.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $154.00 target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jennifer Lee sold 75,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total value of $8,901,394.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 54,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,365,869.54. This represents a 58.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Hunter Smith sold 62,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.46, for a total transaction of $6,620,146.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,024 shares in the company, valued at $12,024,971.04. The trade was a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 245,450 shares of company stock worth $27,374,837 in the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $411,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 10,703.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,109,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,352,000 after purchasing an additional 7,043,556 shares during the period. Braidwell LP grew its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 22.7% during the second quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 381,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,317,000 after purchasing an additional 70,500 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 78.5% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 488,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,266,000 after purchasing an additional 214,990 shares during the period.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of RYTM opened at $102.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $109.60 and its 200-day moving average is $97.12. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.04 and a beta of 1.97. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $74.50 and a fifty-two week high of $122.20.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.81) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $71.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.66 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 85.59% and a negative return on equity of 159.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 46.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.75) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing targeted therapies for rare genetic diseases of obesity and metabolic dysfunction. The company’s research focuses on the melanocortin‐4 receptor (MC4R) pathway, which plays a central role in regulating appetite, energy expenditure and body weight. Using proprietary peptide technology, Rhythm aims to provide precision treatments to patients with specific genetic variants that disrupt normal weight regulation.

The company’s lead investigational product, setmelanotide, is a selective MC4R agonist designed to restore signaling in patients with deficiencies in genes such as POMC, LEPR and PCSK1.