Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $12.77, but opened at $13.23. Centessa Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $13.17, with a volume of 29,125 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNTA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, May 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Chardan Capital initiated coverage on Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.89.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7%

The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.42 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 21.52 and a current ratio of 21.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.43.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.15. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc will post -1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total value of $128,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 122,279 shares in the company, valued at $1,567,616.78. The trade was a 7.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David M. Chao sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.17, for a total value of $120,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 225,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,863,370.19. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 175,398 shares of company stock worth $2,551,442 in the last quarter. 7.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNTA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 5,316 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 190,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after purchasing an additional 54,482 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 115,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 14,494 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,308,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 57,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

About Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and delivers medicines for patients. Its products pipeline includes SerpinPC, an activated protein C inhibitor for the treatment of hemophilia A and B; and ORX750, an orally administered OX2R agonist for the treatment of narcolepsy and other sleep disorders.