JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 81,188 Shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $CPRX

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) by 23.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 433,722 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 81,188 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.35% of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals worth $9,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CPRX. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $17,185,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 963.5% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 724,091 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,559,000 after buying an additional 656,004 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $14,941,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 234.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 526,569 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,769,000 after buying an additional 369,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 41.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,199,627 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,091,000 after acquiring an additional 352,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CPRX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.67.

Insider Transactions at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other Catalyst Pharmaceuticals news, insider Carmen Jeffrey Del sold 10,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.33, for a total transaction of $256,233.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,433.46. The trade was a 73.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CPRX opened at $22.55 on Wednesday. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.05 and a 1 year high of $26.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.63.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, September 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 39.24% and a net margin of 37.63%.The firm had revenue of $53.11 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to repurchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

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.