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

Shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $131.8125.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $139.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $131.00 price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 26th.

Insider Activity at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $502,789.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,329.60. This represents a 97.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RYTM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 39.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,996,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,589,000 after buying an additional 1,407,313 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,666,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,618,000 after buying an additional 985,478 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 1,493.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 979,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,938,000 after buying an additional 918,212 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $60,417,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 123.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 918,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,323,000 after buying an additional 507,017 shares during the last quarter.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of RYTM opened at $91.42 on Thursday. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $58.71 and a 1-year high of $122.20. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a PE ratio of -29.21 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.36.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.86) by $0.03. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 93.33% and a negative return on equity of 203.25%. The firm had revenue of $60.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.81) earnings per share. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 83.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

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.