Capricor Therapeutics Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:CAPR)

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAPR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 12,356 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 446% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,263 call options.

Capricor Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CAPR opened at $19.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -8.49 and a beta of 0.42. Capricor Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $4.30 and a 52-week high of $40.37.

Capricor Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CAPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by ($0.04). Equities analysts forecast that Capricor Therapeutics will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target 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 report on Thursday, June 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Capricor Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

Insider Activity at Capricor Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Anthony Bergmann sold 24,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.38, for a total transaction of $732,158.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 11,223 shares in the company, valued at $340,954.74. This represents a 68.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock worth $1,551,658 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Capricor Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Capricor Therapeutics by 16.1% in the 4th 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 position in shares of Capricor Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,533,000. Tang Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Capricor Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $49,062,000. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Capricor Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $43,516,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Capricor Therapeutics by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,017,332 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,367,000 after acquiring an additional 55,766 shares during the period. 21.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.