Royal Bank of Canada Sells 47,596 Shares of Certara, Inc. $CERT

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Certara, Inc. by 3.3%, now holding approximately 1.37 million shares worth about $13.60 million.
• Certara's recent earnings missed analyst expectations, reporting $0.07 earnings per share, below the consensus estimate of $0.10, while quarterly revenue increased by 12.1% year-over-year.
• Investment analysts have mixed opinions on Certara, with five rating it a Buy and five issuing a Hold rating; the average target price is currently $15.14.

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,374,079 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,596 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.85% of Certara worth $13,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Certara during the first quarter valued at $98,000. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Certara during the 1st quarter valued at about $154,000. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Certara by 493.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 12,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 10,073 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Certara in the 1st quarter worth approximately $984,000. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its stake in shares of Certara by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 115,592 shares of the company's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Certara Price Performance

Shares of CERT stock traded up $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $11.55. 1,897,679 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,359,881. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 231.05 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.26. Certara, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.64 and a 52 week high of $15.69.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $104.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.14 million. Certara had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 5.11%. Certara's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Certara news, insider Leif E. Pedersen sold 51,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.92, for a total transaction of $559,366.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 73,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,850.68. This trade represents a 40.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CERT has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of 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 shares of Certara in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $16.00 price target 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 Certara from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.14.

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.