Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX)

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 3,332 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,090% compared to the typical daily volume of 280 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.83.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

CPRX stock opened at $22.48 on Friday. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $14.75 and a fifty-two week high of $26.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.89. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gary Ingenito sold 44,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total transaction of $1,039,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 68,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,627,468.99. This represents a 38.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Preethi Sundaram sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.42, for a total value of $42,272.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,081 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,085,360.02. This trade represents a 3.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 247,924 shares of company stock valued at $5,879,369 in the last ninety days. 10.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $37,494,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 139.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,568,791 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,741,000 after buying an additional 913,843 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $17,185,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 963.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 397.8% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 694,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,833,000 after buying an additional 554,674 shares in the last quarter. 79.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.