Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on RYTM. Bank of America downgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $79.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $55.83.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ RYTM traded down $0.61 on Wednesday, reaching $45.26. 264,271 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 515,958. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.78 and a beta of 2.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.83. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $20.97 and a fifty-two week high of $53.92.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.16. The company had revenue of $29.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.79 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 254.88% and a negative return on equity of 181.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.82) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Pamela J. Cramer sold 1,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.06, for a total transaction of $68,438.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,556,919.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Pamela J. Cramer sold 1,395 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.06, for a total transaction of $68,438.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,556,919.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Shulman sold 10,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $554,804.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,590. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,176 shares of company stock valued at $888,946 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RYTM. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 91.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $137,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 32,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after buying an additional 12,233 shares during the period.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the rare neuroendocrine diseases. The company's lead product candidate is IMCIVREE (setmelanotide), a rare melanocortin-4 receptor for the treatment of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1, leptin receptor (LEPR) deficiency obesity, and Bardet-Biedl and Alström syndrome.