Certara, Inc. $CERT Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Certara, Inc. by 87.0%, leaving the firm with 19,027 shares after selling 127,512 shares in the first quarter.
• Certara's stock has a current price of $10.58, with a market capitalization of $1.70 billion and a P/E ratio of 211.64, demonstrating substantial volatility in its price performance.
• Research analysts have mixed outlooks for Certara, with price targets ranging from $14.00 to $15.00, while the stock has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) by 87.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,027 shares of the company's stock after selling 127,512 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Certara were worth $188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Certara by 864.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,779,655 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,253,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387,590 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Certara during the 4th quarter worth about $17,852,000. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of Certara during the 1st quarter worth about $4,439,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Certara by 590.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 431,326 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,594,000 after purchasing an additional 368,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Certara in the 4th quarter worth about $2,972,000. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Certara from $17.50 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Certara in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Certara from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Certara from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.14.

Certara Stock Down 6.5%

Shares of CERT traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,974,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,959. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company's 50-day moving average is $10.74 and its 200-day moving average is $11.30. Certara, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.64 and a 52-week high of $15.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 205.04 and a beta of 1.43.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $104.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $104.14 million. Certara had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 5.11%. The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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.