Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Price Target to $144.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $143 to $144 and kept an "overweight" rating, implying roughly a 52.21% upside from the stock's current price.
• Analyst consensus is broadly positive — the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $131.19 (including 15 Buy, 1 Strong Buy, 2 Hold and 1 Sell ratings).
• Rhythm recently beat quarterly estimates with EPS of ($0.83) vs. ($0.86) expected and revenue of $60.11M (up 83.8% YoY); shares traded around $94.61 and the company has a market cap of about $6.48B.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $143.00 to $144.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would suggest a potential upside of 52.21% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on RYTM. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $139.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $131.00 target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.19.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RYTM traded up $2.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.61. 113,520 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 779,109. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $55.31 and a 1 year high of $122.20. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.23 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.44.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.86) by $0.03. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 266.56% and a negative net margin of 103.57%.The firm had revenue of $60.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.81) EPS. The business's revenue was up 83.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $444,025.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 110,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,190,445.12. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $502,789.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 160 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,329.60. The trade was a 97.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,020 shares of company stock valued at $2,375,805. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RYTM. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 148.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,363 shares of the company's stock worth $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 23,506 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 35,282 shares of the company's stock worth $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 62.9% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 7,095 shares of the company's stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 2,740 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 11.2% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 240,345 shares of the company's stock worth $15,187,000 after acquiring an additional 24,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 33,145 shares of the company's stock worth $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,004 shares during the last quarter.

About Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

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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