Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) Short Interest Update

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,810,000 shares, a decline of 6.3% from the May 31st total of 7,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days. Approximately 6.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Molly Harper sold 5,333 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.30, for a total transaction of $86,927.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Catalyst Pharmaceuticals news, Director Molly Harper sold 5,333 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.30, for a total transaction of $86,927.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Carmen Jeffrey Del sold 7,541 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.07, for a total value of $121,183.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,427 shares in the company, valued at $296,121.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,197 shares of company stock valued at $2,169,560 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CPRX. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 139.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,726,388 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $43,445,000 after buying an additional 1,587,794 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased 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 worth $25,610,000 after buying an additional 1,396,930 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 12.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,980,661 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $127,212,000 after buying an additional 860,244 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $11,463,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 101.1% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,061,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,924,000 after buying an additional 533,802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.22% of the company’s stock.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

CPRX traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, hitting $15.80. 773,401 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,370,370. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $11.55 and a 12 month high of $17.50. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.62 and its 200-day moving average is $15.38.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.08% and a net margin of 15.83%. The business had revenue of $98.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.24 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CPRX shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup began coverage on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

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.