Certara Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CERT)

Key Points

• Certara saw an unusually large surge in call-option activity: Investors bought 6,462 call options, roughly 4,617% above the typical daily volume of 137 contracts.
• Analysts remain broadly neutral on the stock. Certara has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $8.45, despite recent target increases from Barclays and UBS maintaining a $10 target.
• Recent financial results fell short of expectations. Certara reported quarterly EPS of $0.08 versus a $0.09 estimate and revenue of $93.27 million against expectations of $98.09 million, while revenue declined 10.8% year over year.

Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 6,462 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 4,617% compared to the typical daily volume of 137 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Certara from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Certara from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Certara in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Certara presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.45.

Certara Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CERT traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.63. The company had a trading volume of 950,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,492,791. Certara has a twelve month low of $4.45 and a twelve month high of $13.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.30 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $8.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.78.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). Certara had a negative net margin of 16.75% and a positive return on equity of 3.86%. The company had revenue of $93.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $98.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Certara will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Certara

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Certara in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Certara during the 2nd quarter worth $68,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Certara during the 2nd quarter worth about $72,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Certara by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Certara in the 1st quarter valued at about $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

About Certara

Certara, Inc NASDAQ: CERT provides software and technology-enabled services for the biopharmaceutical industry. The company helps drug developers use regulatory science, data analysis, and modeling and simulation to support decisions throughout the research, development, and commercialization lifecycle.

Its offerings include software for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling, clinical trial design, patient and disease modeling, regulatory submissions, and real-world data analysis.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.