Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. made a new investment in Certara, acquiring 95,984 shares valued at approximately $950,000, increasing its ownership to about 0.06% of the company.
• Certara's stock recently traded down by 3.3% to $9.53, with a market capitalization of $1.55 billion and a range between a 52-week low of $8.64 and a high of $15.69.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Certara, with an average price target of $15.29, reflecting optimism following recent positive earnings reports.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 95,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $950,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Certara at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Certara by 218.8% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,719 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Certara by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Certara during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Certara by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Certara during the 1st quarter valued at about $104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Certara from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Certara in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays raised shares of Certara from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Certara from $17.50 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Certara in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.14.

Certara Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CERT traded down $0.32 on Friday, reaching $10.94. 1,486,725 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,692,270. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.93 and a 200-day moving average of $11.77. Certara, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.64 and a twelve month high of $15.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 218.84 and a beta of 1.42.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $104.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.14 million. Certara had a return on equity of 5.11% and a net margin of 1.97%. The business's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.