Nicholas Investment Partners LP Makes New $15.46 Million Investment in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $RYTM

Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RYTM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 139,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,463,000. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned 0.20% of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Rhythm Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $683,601,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,210,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,816,000 after buying an additional 1,214,489 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,666,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,618,000 after buying an additional 985,478 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 918,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 918,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,323,000 after buying an additional 507,017 shares during the period.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RYTM opened at $111.44 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $108.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.72. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.50 and a 12 month high of $122.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.83 and a beta of 1.92.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RYTM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.08. Rhythm Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 159.87% and a negative net margin of 85.59%.The company had revenue of $71.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.75) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Rhythm Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Lynn A. Tetrault sold 37,000 shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $3,711,840.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,240. The trade was a 84.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Jennifer Kayden Lee sold 75,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total value of $8,901,394.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 54,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,365,869.54. This trade represents a 58.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 182,676 shares of company stock worth $20,754,691 over the last quarter. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial set a $160.00 price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $154.00 price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.44.

Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.