Royal Bank of Canada Has $13.60 Million Holdings in 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 lowered its position in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 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 SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERT. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Certara by 218.8% during the 1st 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. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Certara in the first quarter worth $31,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Certara by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Certara during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Certara during the first quarter valued at $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Certara Stock Up 3.3%

NASDAQ CERT traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,057,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,191. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 225.65 and a beta of 1.43. Certara, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.64 and a 1-year high of $15.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.28.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last released 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 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Leif E. Pedersen sold 51,224 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.92, for a total transaction of $559,366.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 73,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,850.68. This represents a 40.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.33% of the company's stock.

About Certara

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.