Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Corcept Therapeutics shares gapped up at the open, rising from a prior close of $60.36 to $64.70 and trading around $64.86, a gain of about 7.3% on the day.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with multiple firms upgrading the stock and raising price targets; MarketBeat shows an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.83.
• Recent earnings were mixed: Corcept missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates on April 30, though revenue still rose 4.9% year over year; insiders also sold shares while institutional ownership remained high at 93.61%.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $60.36, but opened at $64.70. Corcept Therapeutics shares last traded at $64.8620, with a volume of 265,717 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CORT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised shares of Corcept Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Corcept Therapeutics from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Corcept Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Corcept Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Corcept Therapeutics from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.83.

Corcept Therapeutics Trading Up 7.3%

The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 184.91 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's 50 day moving average is $45.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.26.

Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.19). Corcept Therapeutics had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 6.14%.The business had revenue of $164.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Corcept Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Joseph K. Belanoff sold 26,198 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.07, for a total value of $1,311,733.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,918,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $146,120,582.82. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider William Guyer sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total transaction of $1,036,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,231 shares of the company's stock, valued at $115,632.73. This trade represents a 89.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 86,198 shares of company stock worth $3,887,769. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Corcept Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corcept Therapeutics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,977,404 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $160,329,000 after acquiring an additional 96,763 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Corcept Therapeutics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,986,056 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $103,915,000 after purchasing an additional 15,656 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Corcept Therapeutics by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,918 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $92,892,000 after purchasing an additional 734,646 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Corcept Therapeutics by 213.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,173,376 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $87,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,059 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Corcept Therapeutics by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,592,059 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,404,000 after purchasing an additional 405,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.61% of the company's stock.

About Corcept Therapeutics

Corcept Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs that modulate the effects of cortisol, a hormone implicated in a range of severe metabolic, oncologic and psychiatric disorders. The company's scientific platform centers on selectively targeting the glucocorticoid receptor to counteract the harmful consequences of excess cortisol, a strategy designed to address diseases with significant unmet medical needs.

The company's flagship marketed product, Korlym (mifepristone), is approved in the United States for the treatment of hyperglycemia secondary to Cushing's syndrome in patients who have type 2 diabetes or glucose intolerance and are not candidates for surgery.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.