Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain bullish on Cytokinetics: Twenty brokerages assign the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with 18 buys, one hold and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $103.37, while several firms recently raised targets to between $110 and $118.
• Insiders have been selling shares: Executives sold 210,672 shares worth approximately $15.7 million over the past 90 days, including sales by CEO Robert Blum and EVP Andrew Callos under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Quarterly results beat expectations but remain loss-making: Cytokinetics reported a quarterly loss of $1.50 per share versus the expected $1.63 loss, while revenue reached $28.62 million. The stock opened at $68.78, below its 52-week high of $88.31, and analysts expect a full-year loss of $5.98 per share.

Shares of Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.3684.

Several research firms have recently commented on CYTK. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on Cytokinetics from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Cytokinetics from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cytokinetics from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Cytokinetics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Cytokinetics in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cytokinetics news, CEO Robert Blum sold 97,926 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.33, for a total transaction of $6,789,209.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 385,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,714,235.60. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Andrew Callos sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.24, for a total value of $702,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,555 shares in the company, valued at $4,112,903.20. This represents a 14.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 210,672 shares of company stock worth $15,670,007 in the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cytokinetics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CYTK. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Cytokinetics by 63.8% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 405,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $34,502,000 after purchasing an additional 157,700 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in Cytokinetics by 44.3% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 144,426 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,177,000 after buying an additional 44,343 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cytokinetics in the 4th quarter valued at $51,281,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its position in Cytokinetics by 181.9% during the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 479,611 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $30,473,000 after buying an additional 309,503 shares during the period. Finally, Siren L.L.C. bought a new position in Cytokinetics during the 1st quarter worth $40,466,000.

Cytokinetics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CYTK opened at $68.78 on Friday. Cytokinetics has a 52-week low of $47.22 and a 52-week high of $88.31. The company has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $76.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.87.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.50) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.63) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $28.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.59 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 57.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.12) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cytokinetics will post -5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cytokinetics Company Profile

Cytokinetics, Incorporated is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing medicines that target the biology of muscle function. The company applies expertise in muscle physiology and contractility to develop potential treatments for cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases.

Its leading programs include aficamten, an investigational cardiac myosin inhibitor being developed for conditions involving abnormal heart-muscle contraction, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

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