Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 120,497 Shares of Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 273,082 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 120,497 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cytokinetics were worth $14,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CYTK. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 642.3% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 65.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 225.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 981 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cytokinetics during the third quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cytokinetics during the first quarter valued at $74,000.

Insider Activity at Cytokinetics

In other news, CEO Robert I. Blum sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $285,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 397,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,666,915.68. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Fady Ibraham Malik sold 6,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.48, for a total value of $370,880.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,659,585.44. The trade was a 5.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 60,078 shares of company stock valued at $3,261,369. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Cytokinetics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CYTK opened at $50.22 on Friday. 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, Incorporated has a 12-month low of $30.68 and a 12-month high of $110.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.33 and a beta of 0.78.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $0.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.35) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cytokinetics, Incorporated will post -5.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CYTK. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Cytokinetics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Cytokinetics in a research report on Friday, November 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.67.

About Cytokinetics

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.