Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) Shares Down 3.1%

Shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) dropped 3.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $13.44 and last traded at $13.51. Approximately 24,912 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 96% from the average daily volume of 554,677 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CERT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Certara from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp raised shares of Certara from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Certara in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Certara from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Certara from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.81.

Certara Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.03 and its 200 day moving average is $16.87.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.01). Certara had a positive return on equity of 4.08% and a negative net margin of 17.02%. The firm had revenue of $96.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.48 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Certara, Inc. will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Certara

In other news, SVP Richard M. Traynor sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $54,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 173,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,123,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Certara news, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 14,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.85, for a total value of $243,094.95. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,033.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard M. Traynor sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $54,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 173,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,123,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Certara

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CERT. Mubadala Investment Co PJSC bought a new stake in Certara during the fourth quarter worth about $169,135,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Certara by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,820,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,029,000 after buying an additional 138,682 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Certara by 93.1% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 769,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,532,000 after buying an additional 370,820 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Certara in the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,262,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Certara by 45.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 335,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,877,000 after buying an additional 104,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

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.