Stifel Nicolaus Begins Coverage on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM)

Equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 51.05% from the company’s previous close.

RYTM has been the topic of a number of other reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.08.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of RYTM opened at $51.64 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.93 and a beta of 2.30. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $35.17 and a 1-year high of $68.58.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $41.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.48 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 230.07% and a negative return on equity of 367.36%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 1,678 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $99,723.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,013,483.98. The trade was a 1.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer Kayden Lee sold 1,815 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.39, for a total transaction of $102,347.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,891.22. This trade represents a 33.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,787 shares of company stock valued at $1,901,443 over the last three months. 5.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 740.7% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $61,000.

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.