B. Riley Financial Upgrades Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) to "Buy"

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial upgraded Capricor Therapeutics to “Buy” from “Neutral” and set a $21 price target, implying approximately 151% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: five analysts rate the stock Buy, six rate it Hold, and one rates it Sell, producing a consensus “Hold” rating with an average target of $30.25.
• Capricor reported a quarterly loss of $0.70 per share, missing estimates by $0.11. The stock opened at $8.37 and has traded between $2.96 and $40.37 over the past year.

Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at B. Riley Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $21.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock. B. Riley Financial's target price indicates a potential upside of 150.90% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 27th. Alliance Global Partners lowered Capricor Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $7.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Capricor Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Maxim Group downgraded Capricor Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Capricor Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.25.

Capricor Therapeutics Price Performance

Capricor Therapeutics stock opened at $8.37 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $486.63 million, a PE ratio of -3.42 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.18. Capricor Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $2.96 and a 12 month high of $40.37.

Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.70) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.59) by ($0.11). Equities research analysts anticipate that Capricor Therapeutics will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Anthony Bergmann sold 24,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.38, for a total transaction of $732,158.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 11,223 shares in the company, valued at $340,954.74. This trade represents a 68.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $759,158 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Capricor Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Capricor Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,397,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 672.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 415,483 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $12,631,000 after buying an additional 361,664 shares in the last quarter. Creek Drive Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $1,039,000. Montanova Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 7.2% during the second quarter. Montanova Capital LLC now owns 4,092,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $98,554,000 after purchasing an additional 274,184 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 238,216 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,875,000 after purchasing an additional 113,499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.68% of the company's stock.

About Capricor Therapeutics

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing cell- and exosome-based therapies for serious diseases. The company's programs are designed to use regenerative medicine and targeted delivery technologies to address conditions with limited treatment options.

Its leading therapeutic candidate is deramiocel, also known as CAP-1002, an allogeneic cell therapy derived from cardiosphere-derived cells. The program has been studied primarily for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness and cardiac complications.

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