Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 358,778 Shares of Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK - Free Report) by 132.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 629,911 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 358,778 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.53% of Cytokinetics worth $25,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CYTK. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Cytokinetics by 42.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 981 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Cytokinetics by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,820 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Cytokinetics by 189.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Cytokinetics by 91.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,156 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Cytokinetics by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Cytokinetics from $86.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cytokinetics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Cytokinetics from $71.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.92.

Cytokinetics Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CYTK traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $36.76. 273,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,525,278. Cytokinetics, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $29.31 and a 12 month high of $61.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.95 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $32.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.35.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cytokinetics news, EVP Andrew Callos sold 8,659 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.04, for a total value of $277,434.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 52,028 shares in the company, valued at $1,666,977.12. This represents a 14.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert I. Blum sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.96, for a total value of $204,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 417,629 shares in the company, valued at $17,106,083.84. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 59,941 shares of company stock worth $2,150,336. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cytokinetics Profile

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.