Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 507,031 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the previous session’s volume of 548,081 shares.The stock last traded at $55.29 and had previously closed at $56.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RYTM. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.90.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.90 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.25.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $33.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.52 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 230.07% and a negative return on equity of 367.36%. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 47.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.76) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Jennifer Kayden Lee sold 66,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.33, for a total value of $4,434,890.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 972 shares in the company, valued at $64,472.76. The trade was a 98.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Shulman sold 13,281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.44, for a total value of $882,389.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 84,830 shares of company stock worth $5,622,000. 5.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 79.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 50,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after buying an additional 22,306 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 241.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 32,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 23,054 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 307.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 10,882 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 2,371,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,366,000 after purchasing an additional 181,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $450,000.

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.