Mackenzie Financial Corp Acquires 117,089 Shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Certara, Inc. by 7.0%, owning approximately $17.75 million worth of stock at the end of the first quarter.
• Certara's recent earnings report revealed $106 million in revenue with earnings per share of $0.14, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Wall Street analysts currently have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Certara, with a price target of $15.29 per share.

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,793,327 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 117,089 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 1.11% of Certara worth $17,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Certara by 218.8% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Certara by 48.4% in 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 during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Certara in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Certara by 57.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Certara in the 1st quarter valued at $104,000. 73.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CERT has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on Certara from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Certara in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Certara from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays upgraded Certara from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Certara in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.29.

Certara Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of CERT stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,930,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,485,978. Certara, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.64 and a 52-week high of $15.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $11.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91 and a beta of 1.42.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $106.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $104.44 million. Certara had a positive return on equity of 5.05% and a negative net margin of 0.67%. The company's revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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.