Supernus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SUPN) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Supernus Pharmaceuticals shares reached a new 52-week high of $43.73 during trading, closing at $43.29 with substantial volume of nearly 182,727 shares.
• Analysts are optimistic, with Wall Street Zen upgrading the stock from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, while Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target to $46.00.
• CEO Jack A. Khattar sold 140,000 shares at an average price of $42.02, reducing his ownership stake by approximately 12%.

Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUPN - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $43.73 and last traded at $43.29, with a volume of 182727 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Supernus Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Supernus Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Supernus Pharmaceuticals from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Supernus Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $35.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.73. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03 and a beta of 0.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Supernus Pharmaceuticals news, Director Frederick M. Hudson sold 7,457 shares of Supernus Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.26, for a total transaction of $315,132.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 46,307 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,956,933.82. The trade was a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jack A. Khattar sold 140,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.02, for a total value of $5,882,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,030,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,288,289.66. This represents a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,826 shares of company stock worth $6,424,773 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SUPN. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Supernus Pharmaceuticals by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,741 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Supernus Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 63,237 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,287,000 after buying an additional 7,961 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Supernus Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 59,970 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 3,495 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Supernus Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,595 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Supernus Pharmaceuticals by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 122,849 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,442,000 after buying an additional 14,061 shares in the last quarter.

Supernus Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of products for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases in the United States. The company's commercial products are Trokendi XR, an extended release topiramate product indicated for the treatment of epilepsy, as well as for the prophylaxis of migraine headache; and Oxtellar XR, an extended release oxcarbazepine for the monotherapy treatment of partial onset seizures in adults and children between 6 to 17 years of age.