Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) Receives "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK - Free Report) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $72.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on Cytokinetics from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 price target on Cytokinetics in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Cytokinetics in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Cytokinetics from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cytokinetics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.44.

Cytokinetics Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of CYTK traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,128,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,678,495. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $38.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 9.28 and a current ratio of 9.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.76 and a beta of 0.81. Cytokinetics has a 1 year low of $29.31 and a 1 year high of $61.40.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.41) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.33) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 89.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cytokinetics will post -5.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cytokinetics

In other news, CEO Robert I. Blum sold 16,970 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.44, for a total value of $737,176.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 364,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,820,022.64. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Wendall Wierenga sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total value of $769,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $955,654.08. This trade represents a 44.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,816 shares of company stock worth $3,942,345 over the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cytokinetics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CYTK. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Cytokinetics by 189.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cytokinetics during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Cytokinetics by 42.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 981 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cytokinetics by 500.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Cytokinetics by 281.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the last quarter.

About Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics, Incorporated, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing muscle activators and inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases. The company develops small molecule drug candidates primarily engineered to impact muscle function and contractility.