Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 515,706 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,244 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Certara worth $6,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Certara by 39.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 997,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,821,000 after acquiring an additional 282,357 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Certara by 27.3% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 516,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after purchasing an additional 110,636 shares during the period. Daventry Group LP grew its stake in shares of Certara by 153.0% during the 2nd quarter. Daventry Group LP now owns 1,308,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,124,000 after buying an additional 791,405 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Certara by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 810,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,221,000 after buying an additional 62,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Certara by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,773,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,418,000 after buying an additional 248,448 shares during the period. 73.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 5,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Leif E. Pedersen sold 51,224 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $578,318.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,125,658.16. This trade represents a 33.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CERT has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Certara from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upgraded Certara from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Certara from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.92.

Certara Stock Performance

Shares of CERT opened at $9.55 on Thursday. Certara, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.55 and a 52-week high of $19.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.75, a PEG ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.30.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $94.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.51 million. Certara had a negative net margin of 8.34% and a positive return on equity of 3.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Analysts forecast that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Certara 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.