Traders Purchase Large Volume of Capricor Therapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:CAPR)

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAPR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 12,356 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 446% compared to the typical volume of 2,263 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Capricor Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Anthony Bergmann sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.70, for a total transaction of $792,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $260,669.10. The trade was a 75.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,000 shares of company stock worth $1,551,658. Corporate insiders own 9.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capricor Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 13.2% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 36,330 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 4,240 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 672.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 415,483 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $12,631,000 after buying an additional 361,664 shares during the period. Stempoint Capital LP lifted its stake in Capricor Therapeutics by 110.6% during the 1st quarter. Stempoint Capital LP now owns 37,592 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 19,739 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in Capricor Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $687,000. Finally, Ally Bridge Group NY LLC purchased a new position in Capricor Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,463,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.68% of the company’s stock.

Capricor Therapeutics Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Capricor Therapeutics stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,098,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,198. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.52. Capricor Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $4.30 and a 12-month high of $40.37. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.66 and a beta of 0.42.

Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.04). Sell-side analysts expect that Capricor Therapeutics will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Capricor Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Capricor Therapeutics Company Profile

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of cell and exosome-based therapeutics for cardiovascular and rare diseases. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, the company leverages proprietary cardiosphere-derived cell (CDC) technology to address conditions characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, and tissue degeneration. Since its founding, Capricor has advanced its lead candidate through multiple clinical trials and has built a pipeline that spans both cell therapy and extracellular vesicle (exosome) platforms.

The company’s leading product candidate, CAP-1002, comprises allogeneic CDCs and is being evaluated in indications such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and COVID-19-related heart injury.