Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more favorable outlook for the company's stock.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, with Bank of America setting a target of $95.00 and Wells Fargo increasing theirs to $129.00.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a revenue of $37.72 million but missed consensus estimates, resulting in a negative net margin of 123.26%.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on RYTM. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $91.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.93.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ RYTM traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,958. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.53 and a 200 day moving average of $61.68. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $40.61 and a twelve month high of $94.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.40 and a beta of 2.26.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.69) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $37.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.43 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 739.62% and a negative net margin of 123.26%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.35) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other Rhythm Pharmaceuticals news, insider Alastair Garfield sold 1,319 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.81, for a total value of $85,484.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,596.06. The trade was a 29.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 42,120 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.48, for a total transaction of $3,389,817.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 116,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,409,319.20. This trade represents a 26.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 79,897 shares of company stock worth $6,221,898. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RYTM. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,038,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 103.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,219,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,309,000 after acquiring an additional 621,432 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 75.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 513,901 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 692,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,783,000 after acquiring an additional 286,188 shares during the period. Finally, Siren L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $14,701,000.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.