K2 Principal Fund L.P. Invests $584,000 in Certara, Inc. $CERT

Key Points

• K2 Principal Fund L.P. has acquired a new position in Certara, Inc. by purchasing 58,951 shares valued at approximately $584,000 in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Certara, with total institutional ownership now at 73.96% of the company's stock.
• Certara recently missed earnings expectations, reporting $0.07 earnings per share, below the consensus estimate of $0.10, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.1%.

K2 Principal Fund L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 58,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Certara by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,208 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Certara during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Certara by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 71,494 shares of the company's stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 4,229 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Certara by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 23,720 shares of the company's stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Certara by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 877,010 shares of the company's stock worth $9,340,000 after acquiring an additional 108,038 shares during the period. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Certara Stock Down 2.4%

NASDAQ CERT traded down $0.27 on Wednesday, reaching $10.70. The stock had a trading volume of 819,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,676,839. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Certara, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.64 and a 1 year high of $15.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 214.44 and a beta of 1.43.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.03). Certara had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 5.11%. The firm had revenue of $104.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $104.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CERT. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Certara in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Certara from $17.50 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Certara from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Certara from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.14.

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.