Convergence Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $CPRX

Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 54,906 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $484,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,506 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,975,000 after purchasing an additional 17,018 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 24.7% during the second quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 67,778 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 13,407 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $14,941,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Catalyst Pharmaceuticals by 65.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,334 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 13,915 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.22% of the company’s stock.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.1%

CPRX opened at $21.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.86. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.05 and a twelve month high of $26.58.

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

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 1st that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the biopharmaceutical company to purchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Richard J. Daly sold 22,970 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.62, for a total value of $473,641.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 226,794 shares in the company, valued at $4,676,492.28. This trade represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Elsbernd sold 30,000 shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $609,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 271,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,502,091.70. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 243,970 shares of company stock worth $4,927,241 over the last three months. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $33.20.

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.