Cytokinetics Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:CYTK)

Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 20,700 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,472% compared to the average daily volume of 1,317 call options.

Insider Transactions at Cytokinetics

In other Cytokinetics news, CEO Robert I. Blum sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.55, for a total value of $252,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 397,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,091,400.80. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Fady Ibraham Malik sold 7,384 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.01, for a total transaction of $420,961.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 122,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,007,669.20. The trade was a 5.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 65,078 shares of company stock worth $3,514,119. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cytokinetics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Cytokinetics by 20.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 58,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 9,779 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Cytokinetics by 67.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,634 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 2,265 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cytokinetics by 105.1% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Cytokinetics by 25,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,260 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cytokinetics by 245.9% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 176,072 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,344,000 after acquiring an additional 125,172 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CYTK. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cytokinetics in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Cytokinetics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cytokinetics from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho upped their price target on Cytokinetics from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Cytokinetics in a research note on Friday, November 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Cytokinetics Price Performance

CYTK opened at $47.67 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.92. The company has a current ratio of 9.28, a quick ratio of 9.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93. Cytokinetics has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $110.25. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.86 and a beta of 0.78.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $0.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.35) EPS. Cytokinetics’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Cytokinetics will post -5.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.