Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Capricor Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CAPR) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.14, but opened at $18.27. Capricor Therapeutics shares last traded at $19.99, with a volume of 1,382,630 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAPR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 20th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on Capricor Therapeutics from $12.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Capricor Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.60.

Capricor Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $7.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.00. The stock has a market cap of $581.49 million, a P/E ratio of -21.49 and a beta of 4.01.

Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.51 million. Capricor Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 102.93% and a negative return on equity of 220.27%. On average, analysts expect that Capricor Therapeutics Inc will post -1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Shinyaku Co Ltd Nippon acquired 2,798,507 shares of Capricor Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.36 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,997.52. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 7,090,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,004,281.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Capricor Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAPR. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Capricor Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Capricor Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $133,000. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 37.5% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 27,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in Capricor Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Capricor Therapeutics by 12.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,782 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 9,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.68% of the company’s stock.

About Capricor Therapeutics

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ:CAPR) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class biological therapeutics for the treatment of rare disorders. Capricor’s lead candidate, CAP-1002, is an allogeneic cell therapy that is currently in clinical development for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.