Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) Trading Up 13% – Should You Buy?

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) shares rose 13% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $24.00 and last traded at $22.06. Approximately 1,564,030 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 36% from the average daily volume of 1,147,241 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CPRX. Stephens started coverage on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.14.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 16.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steve Miller sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total value of $1,096,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 686,996 shares in the company, valued at $15,065,822.28. The trade was a 6.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gary Ingenito sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total value of $272,640.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,603.52. The trade was a 18.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,500 shares of company stock worth $1,754,140 over the last 90 days. 11.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 62.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,778 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 27,218.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2,994 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $151,000. 79.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.