Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Holdings in Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 53,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Certara by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 45,890 shares of the company's stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Certara by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 15,136 shares of the company's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Certara by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 263,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Certara by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 36,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 3,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Certara by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 24,117 shares of the company's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 3,482 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Certara Stock Performance

Certara stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $16.57. 321,643 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 533,272. Certara, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.81 and a twelve month high of $24.64. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $17.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of -47.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.63.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.04). Certara had a positive return on equity of 4.33% and a negative net margin of 15.62%. The company had revenue of $88.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.80 million. Equities analysts predict that Certara, Inc. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Certara in a report on Monday, February 26th. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Certara in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Certara from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Certara in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp raised Certara from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Certara news, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 14,427 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.85, for a total transaction of $243,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $844,033.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 14,427 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.85, for a total value of $243,094.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $844,033.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard M. Traynor sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $54,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 173,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,123,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,427 shares of company stock valued at $405,095. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.