M&T Bank Corp Invests $9.20 Million in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RYTM

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp opened a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by buying 85,967 shares in Q4, valued at approximately $9.20 million, equal to about 0.13% of the company.
• Large institutions also moved into RYTM—Vanguard now owns roughly 4.996 million shares after a 39.2% increase, and AllianceBernstein and JPMorgan materially raised stakes—while insiders sold a total of 27,267 shares (~$2.72 million) last quarter, leaving insiders with about 6.10% ownership.
• Analyst sentiment is a consensus “Moderate Buy” with a target price of $131.13; the stock recently traded near $85.70 (market cap ~$5.85B) after reporting revenue growth of 36.9% last quarter but still negative EPS and margins.

M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 85,967 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,202,000. M&T Bank Corp owned approximately 0.13% of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RYTM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 39.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,996,427 shares of the company's stock valued at $504,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,313 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 1,493.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 979,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,938,000 after purchasing an additional 918,212 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $60,417,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,188,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,983,000 after purchasing an additional 404,510 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $21,548,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RYTM. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $131.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rhythm Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $502,789.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 160 shares in the company, valued at $14,329.60. This represents a 97.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $444,025.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 110,512 shares in the company, valued at $11,190,445.12. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 27,267 shares of company stock worth $2,719,955 over the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ RYTM opened at $85.70 on Friday. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.31 and a 12 month high of $122.20. The company has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.56 and a beta of 2.14. The company's fifty day moving average price is $89.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.08.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.06. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 103.57% and a negative return on equity of 266.56%. The firm had revenue of $57.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.72) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 36.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.08 EPS for the current year.

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.

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