Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $37.50, but opened at $42.01. Cytokinetics shares last traded at $43.43, with a volume of 1,003,296 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Cytokinetics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Cytokinetics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $86.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Cytokinetics in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Cytokinetics from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 price target on Cytokinetics in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.00.

Cytokinetics Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.29. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of -7.88 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 9.28, a quick ratio of 9.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.29) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $16.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.26 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cytokinetics, Incorporated will post -5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Fady Ibraham Malik sold 2,000 shares of Cytokinetics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.32, for a total value of $98,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 116,071 shares in the company, valued at $5,724,621.72. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert I. Blum sold 16,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.44, for a total value of $737,176.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 364,181 shares in the company, valued at $15,820,022.64. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,834 shares of company stock valued at $2,560,525 over the last quarter. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Cytokinetics by 189.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Cytokinetics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 113,500.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Cytokinetics by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 1,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 85.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares in the last quarter.

Cytokinetics Company Profile

Cytokinetics, Incorporated, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing muscle activators and inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases. The company develops small molecule drug candidates primarily engineered to impact muscle function and contractility.