Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT – Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a decline of 30.6% from the August 31st total of 2,350,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 781,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.
Insider Transactions at Certara
In related news, Director Stephen M. Mclean bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.32 per share, for a total transaction of $326,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,440. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Certara news, Director Stephen M. Mclean acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.32 per share, for a total transaction of $326,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,440. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.71, for a total value of $177,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 78,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,390,057.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,196,893 shares of company stock worth $107,705,300 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.02% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Certara
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CERT. EQT Fund Management S.a r.l. purchased a new position in Certara in the second quarter valued at $771,679,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Certara by 58.7% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,200,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,755,000 after buying an additional 1,183,859 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Certara by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,540,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,466,000 after buying an additional 1,034,482 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Certara in the second quarter valued at $18,944,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Certara by 215.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,254,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,654,000 after buying an additional 856,959 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.42% of the company’s stock.
Certara Stock Up 2.9 %
Certara stock opened at $13.29 on Thursday. Certara has a twelve month low of $12.58 and a twelve month high of $45.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -221.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.27.
Certara (NASDAQ:CERT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 9th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.02). Certara had a positive return on equity of 4.26% and a negative net margin of 3.14%. The company had revenue of $82.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Certara will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Analyst Ratings Changes
CERT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Certara from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 17th. Credit Suisse Group initiated coverage on Certara in a research report on Wednesday, August 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Certara from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 24th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Certara in a research report on Thursday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Finally, SVB Leerink cut their target price on Certara from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Certara currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.
About Certara
Certara, Inc provides software products and technology-enabled services to customers for biosimulation in drug discovery, preclinical and clinical research, regulatory submissions, and market access. It offers medicines to patients using biosimulation software, technology, and services to transform drug discovery and development.