Capricor Therapeutics’ (CAPR) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial restated their neutral rating on shares of Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $10.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CAPR. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Capricor Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Capricor Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.33.

Capricor Therapeutics Trading Down 64.5%

Shares of Capricor Therapeutics stock opened at $6.99 on Monday. Capricor Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $4.30 and a 12-month high of $40.37. The stock has a market cap of $404.79 million, a PE ratio of -3.01 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.34.

Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) last posted 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). On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Capricor Therapeutics will post -0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Capricor Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Anthony Bergmann sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $260,669.10. This trade represents a 75.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,000 shares of company stock worth $1,551,658. Company insiders own 9.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capricor Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Capricor Therapeutics by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,561,880 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $73,936,000 after buying an additional 355,161 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $51,533,000. Tang Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $49,062,000. RA Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $43,516,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,332 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,367,000 after acquiring an additional 55,766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.68% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Capricor Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Capricor Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Capricor defended deramiocel. The company said it remains engaged with the FDA and plans to address the briefing materials at the advisory committee meeting, preserving a potential opportunity to support the therapy’s benefit-risk profile. Capricor comments on FDA briefing materials
• Positive Sentiment: B. Riley maintained a neutral rating but set a $10 price target, implying substantial potential recovery if Capricor can resolve the FDA’s efficacy concerns. This is a valuation view rather than a new business catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: The July 29 FDA advisory committee meeting is the next major catalyst. The panel’s recommendation will influence expectations for the August 22 regulatory decision, although advisory committee votes are not binding.
• Negative Sentiment: FDA reviewers challenged the core approval case for deramiocel, citing concerns over the Phase 3 evidence and whether the treatment demonstrated effectiveness. The development raises the risk of a negative advisory committee outcome, additional regulatory requests, delayed approval, or rejection. Reuters FDA report
• Negative Sentiment: Roth Capital downgraded Capricor from Buy to Neutral and assigned a $7 price target, signaling sharply reduced confidence and limited near-term upside.
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms announced securities-fraud investigations into whether Capricor or its executives misrepresented or failed to disclose material information about deramiocel’s clinical data. These announcements may add litigation and reputational risk, though they do not establish wrongdoing. Securities fraud investigation announcement

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.