Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $20.71 Million in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RYTM

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management acquired 186,491 Rhythm Pharmaceuticals shares worth approximately $20.71 million, representing about 0.27% of the company. Several other institutional investors also increased or initiated positions.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 15 analysts rate the stock Buy, two rate it Hold and one rates it Sell, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $142.44.
• Rhythm reported a quarterly loss of $0.73 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose 46.9% year over year to $71.25 million. Shares opened at $115.63, near their 52-week high of $122.20.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 186,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,706,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.27% of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $9,202,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 918,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,323,000 after buying an additional 507,017 shares in the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC bought a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $8,734,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 667,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,329,000 after acquiring an additional 52,383 shares during the period. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% during the first quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 314,100 shares of the company's stock worth $27,317,000 after acquiring an additional 74,300 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on RYTM. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. National Bank Financial set a $160.00 price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $133.00 price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.44.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RYTM opened at $115.63 on Monday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $102.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.02. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.50 and a fifty-two week high of $122.20. The company has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.18 and a beta of 1.92.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.08. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 85.59% and a negative return on equity of 159.87%. The firm had revenue of $71.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $67.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.75) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 46.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lynn A. Tetrault sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $3,711,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,240. This represents a 84.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company's stock.

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.

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