Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other research firms have also commented on CPRX. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $28.83.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

CPRX stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.48. 2,888,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,290,174. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.59. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $11.55 and a 1-year high of $18.99.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.31. The company had revenue of $98.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.24 million. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 25.08%. On average, research analysts predict that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Catalyst Pharmaceuticals news, insider Gary Ingenito sold 80,000 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $1,292,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,391 shares in the company, valued at $830,478.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Molly Harper sold 5,333 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.30, for a total value of $86,927.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gary Ingenito sold 80,000 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.16, for a total transaction of $1,292,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,478.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,197 shares of company stock worth $1,777,560. Insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 72.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 14,142 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 56,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.22% of the company’s stock.

About Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

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.