Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CPRX. Zacks Research cut Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on CPRX

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CPRX opened at $21.56 on Friday. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $19.05 and a 1-year high of $26.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.77.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $53.11 million during the quarter. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 40.78%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to purchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $609,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 271,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,502,091.70. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steve Miller sold 115,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $2,332,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 949,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,259,165.64. This represents a 10.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,927,241. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,506 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,975,000 after acquiring an additional 17,018 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,800 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 8.9% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 28,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 155.3% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 92,001 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 55,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 21.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,411 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 2,401 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.22% of the company’s stock.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies for people with rare debilitating, chronic neuromuscular, and neurological diseases in the United States. It offers Firdapse, an amifampridine phosphate tablets for the treatment of patients with lambert-eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS); and Ruzurgi for the treatment of pediatric LEMS patients.

Recommended Stories