Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" to a "sell" rating in a report released Sunday.
• Despite that downgrade, the consensus among analysts remains a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $131.13 (one Strong Buy, 15 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell).
• RYTM opened at $88.69, has a $6.06B market cap, posted revenue of $57.25M (up 36.9%) with a slight EPS beat, but remains unprofitable (negative margins) and is expected to report -4.32 EPS for the current year; insiders have sold roughly 27,267 shares (~$2.72M) in the past 90 days.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on RYTM. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $176.00 to $152.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $143.00 target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $131.00 price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $131.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $139.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.13.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

RYTM stock opened at $88.69 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $90.98 and a 200-day moving average of $100.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.52 and a beta of 2.14. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $55.31 and a fifty-two week high of $122.20.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $57.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.16 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 266.56% and a negative net margin of 103.57%.The company's revenue was up 36.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.72) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $444,025.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,190,445.12. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $502,789.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 160 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,329.60. This represents a 97.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,267 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,955. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 59.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,760 shares of the company's stock worth $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 7,019 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,771 shares of the company's stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,903 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 102.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 291,150 shares of the company's stock worth $31,165,000 after acquiring an additional 147,595 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $1,117,000.

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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