Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 50,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 306.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 3,829 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $123,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 42.5% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,241 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 13,577 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CPRX. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $26.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David S. Tierney sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.68, for a total value of $392,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 348,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,470,344.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ CPRX opened at $14.89 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.61. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.09 and a 1 year high of $17.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.89.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 17.93% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The firm had revenue of $110.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.78 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals 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.