Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $18.08, but opened at $17.50. Centessa Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $17.02, with a volume of 46,494 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CNTA. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.17.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 13.29 and a current ratio of 13.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.44 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $15.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.07.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.05. Sell-side analysts expect that Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc will post -1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 175,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.52, for a total value of $2,891,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 776,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,834,784.48. This represents a 18.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 11,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.38, for a total transaction of $180,591.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 183,266 shares in the company, valued at $2,818,631.08. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 325,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,213,043. Insiders own 11.59% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $330,000. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 27.3% during the first quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 485,174 shares of the company's stock worth $5,482,000 after acquiring an additional 104,091 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $109,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the first quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 830,546 shares of the company's stock worth $9,385,000 after acquiring an additional 34,817 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 16.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,958,079 shares of the company's stock worth $33,427,000 after acquiring an additional 418,615 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and delivers medicines for patients. Its products pipeline includes SerpinPC, an activated protein C inhibitor for the treatment of hemophilia A and B; and ORX750, an orally administered OX2R agonist for the treatment of narcolepsy and other sleep disorders.