Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Stock Price

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) had its target price lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $148.00 to $139.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 41.74% from the company’s previous close.

RYTM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $141.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $131.00 price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.71.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

RYTM stock opened at $98.07 on Thursday. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $45.90 and a one year high of $122.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of -31.64 and a beta of 2.00.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.06. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 110.32% and a negative return on equity of 433.21%. The business had revenue of $57.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.72) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 36.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals will post -4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other Rhythm Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pamela J. Cramer sold 3,350 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.00, for a total value of $371,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,814 shares in the company, valued at $2,310,354. The trade was a 13.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $444,025.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 110,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,190,445.12. This trade represents a 3.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,003 shares of company stock worth $2,589,015. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RA Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,666,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,618,000 after acquiring an additional 985,478 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,210,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,489 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,198,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,340,000 after purchasing an additional 169,964 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,727,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,499,000 after purchasing an additional 41,391 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,629,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,966,000 after purchasing an additional 288,376 shares during the period.

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.