Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) Downgraded to "Hold" at StockNews.com

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CPRX. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.71.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

CPRX traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,436,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,338,069. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $11.09 and a 12-month high of $17.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.89.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $110.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.78 million. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 17.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Catalyst Pharmaceuticals news, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.44, for a total value of $411,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 124,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,045,678.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners raised its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 965.2% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,541,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $25,610,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,930 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,980,661 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $127,212,000 after buying an additional 860,244 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,463,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 897,046 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,486,000 after buying an additional 350,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 110.2% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 636,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,439,000 after buying an additional 333,562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.22% of the company's stock.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Company 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.

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