Citigroup Increases Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) Price Target to $33.00

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Citigroup from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 54.28% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 12th. Zacks Research cut Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $33.14.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ CPRX traded up $0.40 on Friday, reaching $21.39. 1,941,894 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,362,504. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $19.05 and a 12 month high of $26.58. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.80.

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

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 1st that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biopharmaceutical company to purchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other Catalyst Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Richard J. Daly sold 22,970 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.62, for a total transaction of $473,641.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 226,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,676,492.28. The trade was a 9.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steve Miller sold 115,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $2,332,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 949,663 shares in the company, valued at $19,259,165.64. This represents a 10.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 243,970 shares of company stock worth $4,927,241. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CPRX. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 1,085.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 32.4% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 103,456 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 25,337 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 60.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 3,511 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 45.9% in the third quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,099 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 89,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 12,669 shares during the period. 79.22% of the stock is currently 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.