Legal & General Group Plc Buys New Stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RYTM

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 43,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,875,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 17.3% in 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 buying an additional 985,478 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $683,601,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,198,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,340,000 after acquiring an additional 169,964 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 160,950 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,423,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,424,000 after acquiring an additional 235,920 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jennifer Lee sold 75,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total transaction of $8,901,394.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 54,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,365,869.54. This trade represents a 58.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Alastair Garfield sold 7,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.57, for a total value of $912,695.91. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,823.15. The trade was a 77.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 245,450 shares of company stock worth $27,374,837. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:RYTM opened at $104.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of -33.73 and a beta of 1.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.08. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.50 and a 12 month high of $122.20.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $71.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.66 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 159.87% and a negative net margin of 85.59%.Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.75) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.87 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.12.

About Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

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.