Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) Trading Up 15.5% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Certara's stock price surged by 15.5%, reaching a last traded price of $11.01, significantly up from the previous close of $9.53, though trading volume was down by 68% compared to its average.
• Analysts have mixed views on Certara, with ratings ranging from "hold" to "buy," and an average price target of $15.14, following several recent upgrades from various brokerages.
• In its latest earnings report, Certara reported a net margin of -0.67% with a revenue increase of 12.1% year-over-year but missed the earnings per share consensus estimate.

Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 15.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $11.14 and last traded at $11.01. Approximately 547,966 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 1,721,283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CERT. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Certara from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays upgraded Certara from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Certara in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Certara in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Certara has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.14.

Certara Stock Up 18.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of -562.30 and a beta of 1.42.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $104.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.14 million. Certara had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a positive return on equity of 5.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. Analysts expect that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Certara

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Certara during the first quarter valued at approximately $120,000. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Certara during the fourth quarter valued at about $140,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Certara by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 59,721 shares of the company's stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 2,268 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Certara by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 877,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,340,000 after acquiring an additional 108,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Certara in the first quarter worth $238,000. 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.

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