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

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $131.2857.

RYTM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer downgraded Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 12th.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of RYTM stock opened at $108.36 on Friday. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $45.90 and a 52-week high of $122.20. The stock has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.95 and a beta of 2.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $106.42 and a 200-day moving average of $100.84.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $51.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 110.32% and a negative return on equity of 433.21%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Pamela J. Cramer sold 3,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total transaction of $371,850.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,310,354. This represents a 13.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Shulman sold 9,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.24, for a total value of $1,123,359.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $980,577.16. This represents a 53.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 15,913 shares of company stock worth $1,818,963 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 97.2% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 1,110.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 361 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 65.2% during the third quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 365 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 65.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter.

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.