Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by B. Riley Financial

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) was downgraded by investment analysts at B. Riley Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

CNTA has been the topic of several other research reports. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens cut shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Chardan Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centessa Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of CNTA opened at $39.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 10.57 and a current ratio of 10.56. Centessa Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $9.60 and a 52-week high of $40.26. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.78 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.62 and its 200-day moving average is $25.35.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Centessa Pharmaceuticals

In other Centessa Pharmaceuticals news, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 73,196 shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $1,927,250.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,735,805.25. The trade was a 52.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Iqbal J. Hussain sold 38,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,449,771.75. This represents a 40.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 349,073 shares of company stock worth $9,429,412. Corporate insiders own 7.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,555,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,034,000 after purchasing an additional 3,747,475 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,246,741 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 24.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Commodore Capital LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 930,711 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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: Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Centessa for $38 cash per share plus a contingent value right worth up to ~$9, valuing the deal up to ~$7.8B — the takeover premium is the main upward driver for CNTA. Lilly to acquire Centessa — CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option purchases have been reported (multiple days of elevated call volume), indicating speculative/leveraged bullish positioning around the deal and near-term upside. High volume call options — AmericanBankingNews
• Neutral Sentiment: Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and raised its price target to $40 (from $36) — a modest endorsement but effectively sets expectations near the deal price. Leerink reaffirmation — Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Several sell-side firms (Wolfe Research, Needham, Stephens and others) have downgraded CNTA to Hold from higher ratings this week — analyst downgrades can increase selling pressure and reduce conviction among non-deal investors. Wolfe downgrade — AmericanBankingNews
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have launched investigations and shareholder class-action alerts assessing whether the sale price/process is fair to public shareholders — heightened legal/transaction risk can weigh on sentiment and vote outcomes. Shareholder investigation — PR Newswire
• Negative Sentiment: Large put-option purchases were also reported (very high put volume on 4/1), and the company last reported an EPS miss for the quarter — both signal hedging/speculation to the downside and highlight operational/earnings weakness.

About Centessa Pharmaceuticals

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.