Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,360,000 shares, a growth of 31.4% from the October 15th total of 4,080,000 shares. Approximately 4.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Certara news, insider Leif E. Pedersen sold 51,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $578,318.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,125,658.16. This represents a 33.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 5,409 shares of Certara stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.03, for a total transaction of $59,661.27. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,503.73. This represents a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Certara by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Certara by 1.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 77,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Certara by 2.3% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 54,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in Certara by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 93,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Certara by 6.6% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Certara Stock Down 5.4 %

CERT traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.96. 1,226,565 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 792,593. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 1.51. Certara has a one year low of $9.88 and a one year high of $19.87. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. Certara had a positive return on equity of 3.43% and a negative net margin of 8.34%. The business had revenue of $94.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. Certara’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Certara will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Certara from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on Certara from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Certara from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.92.

Certara Company Profile

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.