Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $943,000 in Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT)

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERT. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Certara by 193.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 13,213 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Certara by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 4,528 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Certara in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $168,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted 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 worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 3,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Certara by 105.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 72,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after acquiring an additional 37,159 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Certara Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ CERT opened at $16.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.63. Certara, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.81 and a 12 month high of $24.64.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $88.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.80 million. Certara had a negative net margin of 15.62% and a positive return on equity of 4.33%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Certara, Inc. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Certara

In other news, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 14,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 50,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,033.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 50,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,033.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard M. Traynor sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 165,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,976,624. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,427 shares of company stock worth $405,095. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Certara in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Certara from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Certara from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Certara in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Certara in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.06.

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.