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

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CPRX. Zacks Research lowered Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.20.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $20.84 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.79. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $19.05 and a twelve month high of $26.58.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals declared that its board has initiated 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 repurchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director David S. Tierney sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total value of $525,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 379,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,668,324. This represents a 6.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,970 shares of company stock worth $4,927,241 in the last 90 days. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 48,390 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 10,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 38,847 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 149,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,253,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 26.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. 79.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.