Brokerages Set Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) Target Price at $15.14

Key Points

• Certara, Inc. has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from ten brokerages, with five analysts recommending a buy and five a hold.
• The company's average 12-month price target from analysts is $15.14, with notable adjustments from firms such as KeyCorp and UBS Group lowering their targets.
• Insider Leif E. Pedersen recently sold 51,224 shares valued at approximately $559,366, representing a 40.91% decrease in their ownership stake.

Shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.1429.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CERT shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Certara in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Certara from $17.50 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Certara from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Certara from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th.

Certara Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CERT traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $11.64. 271,900 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,687,865. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 232.67 and a beta of 1.43. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $10.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.27. Certara has a 1 year low of $8.64 and a 1 year high of $15.69.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $104.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $104.14 million. Certara had a return on equity of 5.11% and a net margin of 1.97%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Certara will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Certara news, insider Leif E. Pedersen sold 51,224 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.92, for a total value of $559,366.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 73,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,850.68. This trade represents a 40.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Certara

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Certara by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 23,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Certara by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,517 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in Certara by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Certara by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in Certara by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 6,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

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.