Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RYTM

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,888 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,317 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. RA Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,666,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,618,000 after purchasing an additional 985,478 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,210,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,816,000 after buying an additional 1,214,489 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,198,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,340,000 after buying an additional 169,964 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,074,000 after buying an additional 160,950 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,423,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,424,000 after acquiring an additional 235,920 shares during the last quarter.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 6.1%

Shares of NASDAQ RYTM opened at $99.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.97. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.50 and a 12 month high of $122.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of -31.71 and a beta of 1.88.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.86) by $0.03. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 93.33% and a negative return on equity of 203.25%. The firm had revenue of $60.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.81) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 83.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on RYTM. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, July 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $143.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Rhythm Pharmaceuticals news, Director Lynn A. Tetrault sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $3,711,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $702,240. This trade represents a 84.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.