Virtus Advisers LLC Purchases New Shares in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $CPRX

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC has acquired a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, purchasing 22,804 shares valued at approximately $553,000.
• Analyst ratings for Catalyst Pharmaceuticals have been mixed, with Cantor Fitzgerald upgrading it to a "strong-buy" but Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen downgrading it to "hold."
• Insider selling was reported as Preethi Sundaram, an insider, sold 2,324 shares at an average price of $26.41, decreasing their ownership by 5.16%.

Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,804 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CPRX. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,494,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,568,791 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,741,000 after purchasing an additional 913,843 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $17,185,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 963.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 724,091 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $17,559,000 after purchasing an additional 656,004 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 397.8% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 694,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $16,833,000 after purchasing an additional 554,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.22% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other Catalyst Pharmaceuticals news, insider Steve Miller sold 115,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 949,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,259,165.64. This trade represents a 10.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Preethi Sundaram sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.42, for a total value of $42,272.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,894 shares of company stock worth $3,434,690 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CPRX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Two 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, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.20.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ CPRX traded up $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,085,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,714. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.53. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.70. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.00 and a 52 week high of $26.58.

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.