Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) Receives $32.67 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and two have 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 $32.6667.

Several research analysts have commented on CPRX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $609,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 271,039 shares in the company, valued at $5,502,091.70. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Carmen Jeffrey Del sold 10,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.33, for a total value of $256,233.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,433.46. The trade was a 73.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,983 shares of company stock valued at $1,852,433. 10.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CPRX. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 105.0% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 1,085.7% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 79.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

CPRX traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $23.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 527,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,358,908. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $19.05 and a 12 month high of $26.58. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.72.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 40.78%. The business had revenue of $53.11 million for the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 1st that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.