Cytokinetics Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CYTK)

Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 3,210 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,373 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CYTK. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Cytokinetics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 price target on Cytokinetics in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Cytokinetics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $86.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Cytokinetics in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Cytokinetics from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.88.

Cytokinetics Stock Performance

NASDAQ CYTK opened at $37.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.94 and a beta of 0.94. Cytokinetics has a 1-year low of $32.74 and a 1-year high of $68.44. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.29) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $16.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.26 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Cytokinetics will post -5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cytokinetics

In related news, EVP Andrew Callos sold 2,886 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.78, for a total transaction of $103,261.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 64,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,314,572.42. This trade represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Fady Ibraham Malik sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.06, for a total value of $96,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 116,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,578,372.26. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,360 shares of company stock worth $3,848,445 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cytokinetics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CYTK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cytokinetics by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,915,821 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $560,520,000 after acquiring an additional 154,216 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,752,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $505,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062,136 shares during the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Cytokinetics by 296.9% during the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 2,500,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $117,600,000 after buying an additional 1,870,094 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Cytokinetics by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 2,350,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $110,544,000 after buying an additional 850,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Cytokinetics by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,153,313 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $101,292,000 after acquiring an additional 279,612 shares during the last quarter.

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.