Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) Receives $133.19 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $133.1875.

Several research firms have commented on RYTM. Zacks Research raised shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 12th.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.6%

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $90.51 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.91. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $45.90 and a twelve month high of $122.20. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of -29.10 and a beta of 2.06.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $57.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.16 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 266.56% and a negative net margin of 103.57%.The firm’s revenue was up 36.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.72) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $444,025.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,190,445.12. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $502,789.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,329.60. This represents a 97.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,267 shares of company stock worth $2,719,955. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 102.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 291,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,165,000 after acquiring an additional 147,595 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,117,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 922.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 250,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,777,000 after purchasing an additional 225,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. increased its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 580.2% during the 4th quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 80,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,641,000 after purchasing an additional 68,860 shares during the period.

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.