UBS Group AG Grows Stock Position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RYTM

UBS Group AG increased its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 427,236 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals were worth $45,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,996,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,313 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 1,493.8% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 979,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,938,000 after purchasing an additional 918,212 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $60,417,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,188,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,983,000 after purchasing an additional 404,510 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $21,548,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on RYTM. Zacks Research raised shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. 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, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $136.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $176.00 to $152.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.63.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $96.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.98 and a 200 day moving average of $99.33. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.31 and a 52 week high of $122.20. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of -30.87 and a beta of 1.94.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.86) by $0.03. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 93.33% and a negative return on equity of 220.32%. The business had revenue of $60.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.78 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.81) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 83.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 4,385 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $444,025.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 110,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,190,445.12. The trade was a 3.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Christopher Paul German sold 5,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $502,789.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 160 shares in the company, valued at $14,329.60. This represents a 97.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 20,639 shares of company stock worth $2,017,217 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

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.