Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Reduces Stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 618,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,143 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals were worth $34,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RYTM. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 740.7% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 454 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 78.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $53.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.35 and a beta of 2.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.00. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.17 and a 12 month high of $68.58.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.72) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $41.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.48 million. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 230.07% and a negative return on equity of 367.36%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yann Mazabraud sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.48, for a total value of $3,861,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,370 shares in the company, valued at $2,078,247.60. This represents a 65.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Hunter C. Smith sold 1,678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,013,483.98. This represents a 1.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,131 shares of company stock worth $5,781,098 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

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.