Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on RYTM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $47.40.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:RYTM opened at $40.33 on Wednesday. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $15.50 and a 12 month high of $52.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.60 and a beta of 1.90.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.70) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70). Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 238.50% and a negative return on equity of 96.02%. The business had revenue of $24.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.38 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.75) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 175.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Joseph Shulman sold 71,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.38, for a total transaction of $3,615,974.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,320.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph Shulman sold 71,774 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.38, for a total transaction of $3,615,974.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,320.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 1,209 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.38, for a total transaction of $62,118.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,131,619.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,069 shares of company stock worth $7,626,355 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,265,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,310,000 after buying an additional 2,484,406 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 80.7% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,065,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,350,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261,778 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,339,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,474,000 after purchasing an additional 243,202 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,267,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,880,000 after purchasing an additional 655,237 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,226,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,342,000 after purchasing an additional 212,370 shares during the period.

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.