Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) Trading Down 15.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) shares fell 15.7% during trading on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $14.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Certara traded as low as $9.91 and last traded at $9.4950. 388,200 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 1,702,610 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.27.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CERT. Zacks Research raised shares of Certara from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Certara from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Craig Hallum started coverage on Certara in a research report on Monday, September 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Certara in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Certara from $17.50 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Certara currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.38.

Insider Transactions at Certara

In other news, insider Leif E. Pedersen sold 51,224 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.92, for a total transaction of $559,366.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 73,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,850.68. This trade represents a 40.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Certara

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CERT. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Certara by 4.0% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp increased its holdings in Certara by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 11,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in Certara by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 45,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Certara by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Certara by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Certara Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.82 and a 200 day moving average of $11.55. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.34 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. Certara had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 5.11%. The firm had revenue of $104.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $104.53 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Certara has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.450-0.470 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

About Certara

Certara, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides software products and technology-enabled services to customers for biosimulation in drug discovery, preclinical and clinical research, regulatory submissions, and market access in the United States and internationally. It offers solutions for model-informed drug development, as well as biosimulation solution used to predict both pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.