Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc Trims Stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $CPRX

Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc reduced its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) by 53.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 20,250 shares during the period. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc’s holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 57.2% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $182,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,502,091.70. This represents a 9.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David S. Tierney sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total value of $525,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 379,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,668,324. The trade was a 6.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 243,970 shares of company stock worth $4,927,241 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 12th. Zacks Research cut Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $33.20.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

CPRX opened at $21.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.86. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.05 and a 1-year high of $26.58.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CPRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 40.78% and a net margin of 37.36%.The business had revenue of $53.11 million for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 1st that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the biopharmaceutical company to buy up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.