Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 4,800 Shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $CPRX

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 376,384 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.31% of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals worth $8,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 105.0% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $188,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 60.0% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 8,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

CPRX stock opened at $23.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.37 and a 200-day moving average of $21.72. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.05 and a fifty-two week high of $26.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.79.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $53.11 million for the quarter. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.36% and a return on equity of 40.78%. Equities analysts predict that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CPRX. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research lowered Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.67.

Insider Activity at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Carmen Jeffrey Del sold 10,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.33, for a total value of $256,233.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,433.46. This trade represents a 73.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 30,000 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $609,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 271,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,502,091.70. This trade represents a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,983 shares of company stock valued at $1,852,433. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.