Short Interest in Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK) Expands By 15.7%

Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,420,000 shares, a growth of 15.7% from the May 15th total of 14,190,000 shares. Currently, 14.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days.

Cytokinetics Stock Performance

Shares of CYTK opened at $52.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of -9.77 and a beta of 0.75. Cytokinetics has a 1 year low of $25.98 and a 1 year high of $110.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.94.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $0.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.91 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 81.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.38) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cytokinetics will post -4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CYTK shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Cytokinetics from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Cytokinetics from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Cytokinetics from $122.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Cytokinetics from $92.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Fady Ibraham Malik sold 32,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.31, for a total value of $2,422,877.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 138,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,296,913.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Fady Ibraham Malik sold 32,605 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.31, for a total value of $2,422,877.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 138,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,296,913.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Henderson sold 10,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.54, for a total transaction of $681,671.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,069,797.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,093 shares of company stock valued at $7,892,234 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cytokinetics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cytokinetics in the first quarter valued at approximately $531,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Cytokinetics in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,706,000. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Cytokinetics by 185.4% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 130,806 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,171,000 after acquiring an additional 84,967 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cytokinetics during the first quarter worth approximately $1,471,000. Finally, Murchinson Ltd. raised its holdings in Cytokinetics by 56.7% during the first quarter. Murchinson Ltd. now owns 108,795 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,628,000 after purchasing an additional 39,356 shares in the last quarter.

Cytokinetics Company Profile

Cytokinetics, Incorporated, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing muscle activators and inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases. The company develops small molecule drug candidates primarily engineered to impact muscle function and contractility.