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

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $131.1250.

RYTM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $145.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. HC Wainwright decreased their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ RYTM opened at $86.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a PE ratio of -27.86 and a beta of 2.14. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $49.86 and a 52-week high of $122.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $93.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.24.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $57.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.16 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 266.56% and a negative net margin of 103.57%.The business’s revenue was up 36.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.72) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rhythm Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 97.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $444,025.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,190,445.12. The trade was a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 27,267 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955 over the last ninety days. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,666,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,618,000 after acquiring an additional 985,478 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,210,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,816,000 after buying an additional 1,214,489 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,198,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,340,000 after buying an additional 169,964 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,727,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,499,000 after buying an additional 41,391 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,074,000 after buying an additional 160,950 shares during the period.

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.