Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT) – Equities researchers at William Blair lifted their Q4 2020 earnings per share estimates for shares of Catalent in a note issued to investors on Monday, May 20th, according to Zacks Investment Research. William Blair analyst J. Kreger now anticipates that the company will earn $0.71 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.70.
A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Catalent from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. First Analysis reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of Catalent in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. ValuEngine upgraded Catalent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Catalent from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Catalent from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.57.
Shares of CTLT traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.69. 541,280 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 736,209. Catalent has a 52 week low of $29.23 and a 52 week high of $50.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.57.
Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.07. Catalent had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 6.01%. The business had revenue of $617.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Catalent by 17.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,503,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,456,000 after buying an additional 2,620,352 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Catalent by 7.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,918,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $564,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023,315 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Catalent by 9.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 12,925,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110,779 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Catalent by 29.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,976,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,020 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Catalent by 1.9% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,913,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,849,000 after purchasing an additional 74,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.85% of the company’s stock.
In other Catalent news, insider Peter L. Buzy purchased 44,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.13 per share, for a total transaction of $2,008,285.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 44,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,008,285. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.08 per share, with a total value of $90,160.00. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 56,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,542,845 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Catalent
Catalent, Inc provides delivery technologies and development solutions for drugs, biologics, and consumer and animal health products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Softgel Technologies, Biologics and Specialty Drug Delivery, Oral Drug Delivery, and Clinical Supply Services. The Softgel Technologies segment formulates, develops, and manufactures prescription and consumer soft capsules for use in a range of customer products, such as prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, unit-dose cosmetics, and animal health medicinal preparations.