Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $CPRX Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) by 14.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,119 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,917 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.06% of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,495,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $206,018,000 after purchasing an additional 64,486 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 11.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,135,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $76,035,000 after acquiring an additional 333,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,326,771 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,174,000 after buying an additional 79,846 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 41.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,199,627 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,091,000 after purchasing an additional 352,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 49.5% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,037,811 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,520,000 after purchasing an additional 343,686 shares in the last quarter. 79.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CPRX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $33.20.

Insider Activity at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other Catalyst Pharmaceuticals news, insider Steve Miller sold 115,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.28, for a total transaction of $2,332,200.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 949,663 shares in the company, valued at $19,259,165.64. This represents a 10.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 271,039 shares in the company, valued at $5,502,091.70. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 243,970 shares of company stock worth $4,927,241. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.4%

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $21.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.40 and a 200-day moving average of $21.82. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.05 and a 52 week high of $26.58.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 1st that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the biopharmaceutical company to purchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.