Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) by 58.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 730,586 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,014,885 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Certara were worth $8,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CERT. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Certara during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Certara during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Certara by 48.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Certara in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $152,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Certara in the 2nd quarter valued at $156,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick F. Smith sold 5,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.03, for a total transaction of $59,661.27. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,503.73. This trade represents a 9.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CERT. UBS Group upgraded Certara from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Certara from $18.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Certara from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.92.

Certara Stock Performance

NASDAQ CERT opened at $10.71 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.55, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.53. Certara, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.41 and a 1-year high of $19.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.86.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $94.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.51 million. Certara had a negative net margin of 8.34% and a positive return on equity of 3.43%. Certara’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Certara, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

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.