Woodline Partners LP Has $5.01 Million Stock Position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $CPRX

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP decreased its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 18.4%, owning 206,478 shares valued at approximately $5 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes, including New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC, which boosted its position by over 5,500% during the same period.
• After recent analysis, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Buy" with a target price of $33.20 from various brokerages.

Woodline Partners LP lowered its position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX - Free Report) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,478 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 46,491 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.17% of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals worth $5,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CPRX. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 139.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,568,791 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,741,000 after acquiring an additional 913,843 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,185,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 963.5% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 724,091 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $17,559,000 after acquiring an additional 656,004 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 397.8% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 694,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $16,833,000 after acquiring an additional 554,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 234.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 526,569 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $12,769,000 after acquiring an additional 369,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.22% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard J. Daly sold 22,970 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Steve Miller sold 115,000 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total value of $2,332,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 949,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,259,165.64. This represents a 10.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,970 shares of company stock worth $4,927,241. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.76. 1,669,293 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,445,183. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.36. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.15 and a fifty-two week high of $26.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPRX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research downgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $33.20.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals 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.