Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Cut to Hold at B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial lowered shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centessa Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of CNTA stock opened at $39.69 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.93 and a 200 day moving average of $25.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 10.56 and a quick ratio of 10.57. Centessa Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $9.60 and a 1-year high of $40.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of -21.69 and a beta of 1.25.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 6th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.10). As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centessa Pharmaceuticals will post -1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Centessa Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 73,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $1,927,250.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 65,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,735,805.25. This trade represents a 52.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Iqbal J. Hussain sold 38,951 shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total transaction of $979,617.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 57,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,449,771.75. This trade represents a 40.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 349,073 shares of company stock worth $9,429,412 over the last quarter. 7.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centessa Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,555,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,034,000 after buying an additional 3,747,475 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,281,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,156,000 after buying an additional 1,246,741 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 5,377,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045,750 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. boosted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 4,027,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,728,000 after acquiring an additional 800,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commodore Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 3,298,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,340,000 after acquiring an additional 930,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Centessa Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Centessa Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lilly acquisition reported — Multiple outlets report Eli Lilly will acquire Centessa in a deal worth up to $7.8B; press coverage notes shareholders would receive roughly $38 in cash plus contingent value rights tied to potential upside, which sets a clear takeover premium/floor under the stock. LLY to Buy Centessa — Zacks
• Positive Sentiment: Large call buying — Reports show unusually high volume of call-option purchases, a bullish signal from derivatives traders that may reflect takeover-related arbitrage or speculative upside interest. Investors Purchase Calls — American Banking News
• Neutral Sentiment: Guggenheim reaffirmed “neutral” — Guggenheim left its rating unchanged, signaling no strong analyst upgrade in response to the takeover buzz. Guggenheim Reaffirms — TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: Leerink moved to “hold” but raised price target to $40 — A mixed note: downgrading the rating but nudging the target slightly above current market levels, reflecting uncertainty about deal dynamics or timing. Leerink Downgrade / PT — Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple analyst downgrades — Several firms (B. Riley, Lifesci Capital, Wolfe Research, Needham, Stephens and others) cut ratings to hold from stronger stances, pressuring sentiment despite the takeover reports. Analyst Downgrades — Zacks Wolfe Research — American Banking News Needham — American Banking News
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder investigations and class-action alerts — Two law firms announced probes into the proposed sale process and price adequacy, creating legal/transaction risk that can weigh on the stock and complicate closing. Monteverde & Associates — PR Newswire KSF Investigation — BusinessWire
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings miss — Centessa reported Q (EPS -$0.48) that missed consensus (~ -$0.38), an operational disappointment that adds near-term pressure independent of M&A news. Earnings Release — MarketBeat
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy put buying — Separately, unusual volume in put options (10,659 puts, a large jump vs. average) shows some participants betting on downside or using puts for hedging around the deal. (No direct link provided in feed.)

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc is a global clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapies across multiple disease areas. The company operates a modular R&D network, bringing together a portfolio of independent, specialist research entities under a single corporate umbrella. This structure is designed to accelerate decision‐making and resource allocation while leveraging deep scientific expertise in each therapeutic domain.

Centessa’s pipeline spans oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, as well as rare genetic disorders.