Short Interest in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) Expands By 12.5%

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,680,000 shares, an increase of 12.5% from the December 15th total of 5,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 975,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steve Miller sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total value of $1,096,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 686,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,065,822.28. This represents a 6.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gary Ingenito sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total transaction of $272,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,167,603.52. This trade represents a 18.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,754,140 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,000,756 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,479,000 after acquiring an additional 263,099 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 130,918.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,967,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965,310 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,167,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,215,000 after acquiring an additional 50,804 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 47.9% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 618,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,577,000 after acquiring an additional 200,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 87.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 488,386 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,565,000 after acquiring an additional 227,321 shares in the last quarter. 79.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ CPRX traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.78. The company had a trading volume of 4,930,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 888,541. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $13.12 and a one year high of $24.27. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.75 and its 200-day moving average is $20.27.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Company 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.