Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Position in Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT)

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,087,397 shares of the company's stock after selling 85,798 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 2.54% of Certara worth $56,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CERT. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Certara in the second quarter worth $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Certara during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Certara in the second quarter worth about $36,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Certara during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Certara during the second quarter valued at approximately $152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CERT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Certara from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Certara from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Certara in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Certara from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Certara from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.79.

Certara Stock Performance

Shares of CERT traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $10.99. 1,079,465 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 737,138. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.90. Certara, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.35 and a 1 year high of $19.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.03). Certara had a positive return on equity of 3.03% and a negative net margin of 21.64%. The company had revenue of $93.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $96.01 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Certara, Inc. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Certara

In other Certara news, insider Leif E. Pedersen sold 51,224 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total transaction of $578,318.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,125,658.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.