Voya Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RYTM

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC has decreased its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by 11.6%, now owning 85,849 shares valued at approximately $4.5 million.
• Insider selling activity includes CAO Christopher Paul German selling 1,500 shares and CFO Hunter C. Smith selling 3,477 shares, indicating notable declines in their positions.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, with several adjusting price targets upward; Morgan Stanley raised its price objective to $109.00 and Oppenheimer to $110.00.

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM - Free Report) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,849 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,320 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals worth $4,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,591,871 shares of the company's stock worth $84,321,000 after acquiring an additional 42,236 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,022 shares of the company's stock worth $77,231,000 after purchasing an additional 167,047 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $71,038,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,199,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,515,000 after buying an additional 513,901 shares during the period. Finally, Checkpoint Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Checkpoint Capital L.P. now owns 907,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,057,000 after buying an additional 179,258 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph Shulman sold 4,188 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.07, for a total transaction of $419,093.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,509 shares in the company, valued at $851,495.63. The trade was a 32.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $142,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,590. The trade was a 61.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,077 shares of company stock worth $9,360,077. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3%

RYTM stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.26. 40,406 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 658,632. The company has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.99 and a beta of 2.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $95.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.11. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.90 and a 52 week high of $106.52.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.75) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.66) by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $48.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.72 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1,831.43% and a negative net margin of 117.13%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.55) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RYTM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Leerink Partners began coverage on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $101.57.

About Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the rare neuroendocrine diseases. The company's lead product candidate is IMCIVREE (setmelanotide), a rare melanocortin-4 receptor for the treatment of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1, leptin receptor (LEPR) deficiency obesity, and Bardet-Biedl and Alström syndrome.