Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.29.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CPRX. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Baird R W upgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.7 %

Shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $21.45 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.99. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $26.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 62,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.98, for a total value of $1,447,165.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 188,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,333,200.72. This represents a 25.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gary Ingenito sold 44,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.09, for a total transaction of $991,929.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 68,873 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,404.57. The trade was a 39.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,696 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 312,320 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,518,000 after buying an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 35,477 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC increased its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 20,664 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 1,030 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.