New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Position in Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 239,853 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,277 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Certara were worth $4,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CERT. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Certara by 14,940.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 3,735 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Certara in the third quarter valued at $145,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Certara by 13.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 15,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Certara by 1,704.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 12,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Certara by 31.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,528 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Certara Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CERT opened at $17.60 on Monday. Certara, Inc. has a one year low of $11.81 and a one year high of $23.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.70 and a 200-day moving average of $16.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -50.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). Certara had a negative net margin of 15.62% and a positive return on equity of 4.33%. The firm had revenue of $88.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.80 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Certara, Inc. will post 0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Certara

In other news, SVP Richard M. Traynor sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $108,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 165,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,976,624. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Certara news, SVP Richard M. Traynor sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $54,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 173,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,123,432. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard M. Traynor sold 6,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 165,368 shares in the company, valued at $2,976,624. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,427 shares of company stock valued at $405,095 in the last three months. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.