Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Trading Down 5.3% on Insider Selling

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) shares fell 5.3% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $97.67 and last traded at $97.0350. 54,752 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 750,485 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.44.

Specifically, CEO David Meeker sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.67, for a total value of $5,133,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 239,258 shares in the company, valued at $24,564,618.86. The trade was a 17.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $133.00 price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.67.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 4.9%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.21. The company has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.31 and a beta of 1.97.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.81) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $71.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.66 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 159.87% and a negative net margin of 85.59%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.75) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 10,703.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,109,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,352,000 after acquiring an additional 7,043,556 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $683,601,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $351,838,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $102,752,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 180.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 628,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,675,000 after purchasing an additional 404,183 shares in the last quarter.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for rare genetic diseases of obesity and related metabolic disorders. The company’s research is centered on the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) pathway, which plays an important role in regulating hunger and energy balance.

Rhythm’s primary product is IMCIVREE (setmelanotide), an MC4R agonist. In the United States, IMCIVREE is approved for chronic weight management in adults and children at least 2 years old with obesity and certain genetically confirmed conditions affecting the MC4R pathway, including pro-opiomelanocortin, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1 and leptin receptor deficiencies, as well as Bardet-Biedl syndrome.