Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK)

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $72.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 39.78% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Cytokinetics from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Cytokinetics in a report on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Cytokinetics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Cytokinetics in a report on Friday, November 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cytokinetics in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

Cytokinetics Price Performance

Cytokinetics stock opened at $51.51 on Monday. Cytokinetics has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $110.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 9.28 and a quick ratio of 9.28.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.27) by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $0.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.35) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cytokinetics will post -5.25 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert I. Blum sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.14, for a total value of $260,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 397,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,723,355.84. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Fady Ibraham Malik sold 6,342 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.48, for a total transaction of $370,880.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 64,994 shares of company stock worth $3,427,975. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cytokinetics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cytokinetics by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 71,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,802,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of Cytokinetics by 38.9% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,212,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $64,040,000 after acquiring an additional 339,373 shares during the last quarter. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cytokinetics in the second quarter worth approximately $10,619,000. Darwin Global Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Cytokinetics in the second quarter worth approximately $246,074,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cytokinetics in the second quarter worth approximately $983,000.

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.