Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM)

Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 42.91% from the stock’s current price.

RYTM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer started coverage on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.09.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of RYTM opened at $55.98 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.89. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $35.17 and a 1 year high of $68.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.93 and a beta of 2.14.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $33.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.52 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 367.36% and a negative net margin of 230.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.76) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Jennifer Kayden Lee sold 66,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.33, for a total transaction of $4,434,890.13. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,472.76. This trade represents a 98.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Pamela J. Cramer sold 4,688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $304,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $877,500. This trade represents a 25.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 84,830 shares of company stock worth $5,622,000 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 513.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 32.8% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $450,000.

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.