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

Key Points

• Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, while Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded it to a "strong-buy" just days prior.
• The stock currently has a consensus price target of $32.83 and a market capitalization of $2.42 billion.
• Insider trading has seen significant activity, with one insider selling 44,000 shares for over $1 million, indicating potential changes in insider confidence.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.20.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $20.44. The company had a trading volume of 206,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,193. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $22.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.70. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $19.00 and a 52-week high of $26.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Preethi Sundaram sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.42, for a total value of $42,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,085,360.02. This represents a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $484,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,506 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $14,975,000 after acquiring an additional 17,018 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 27.7% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 18,429 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 65.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,334 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 13,915 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $2,343,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.22% of the company's stock.

About Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

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.