Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $76.00 to $110.00. The stock had previously closed at $65.14, but opened at $76.75. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $81.26, with a volume of 1,050,154 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $91.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pamela J. Cramer sold 15,572 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.13, for a total value of $1,201,068.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,481,590.17. The trade was a 44.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yann Mazabraud sold 6,745 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total transaction of $438,964.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,655 shares in the company, valued at $2,450,587.40. This represents a 15.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,673 shares of company stock worth $7,118,510 in the last 90 days. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,326 shares of the company's stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,365 shares of the company's stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 37,156 shares of the company's stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,573 shares of the company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 13,100 shares of the company's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.85 and a beta of 2.26. The firm's fifty day moving average is $64.34 and its 200 day moving average is $59.27.

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

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.