Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) Stock Price Up 5.9% – Should You Buy?

Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) shot up 5.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.89 and last traded at $8.85. 760,632 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,699,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CERT shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Certara from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Certara from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Certara from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stephens reduced their price objective on Certara from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Certara from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.28.

Certara Stock Up 4.8%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of -19.47 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). Certara had a positive return on equity of 3.86% and a negative net margin of 16.75%.The company had revenue of $93.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.07 EPS. Certara’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Certara, Inc. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Certara

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harvest Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Certara in the second quarter valued at about $131,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Certara during the second quarter worth about $46,446,000. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Certara during the second quarter worth about $346,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Certara during the second quarter worth about $11,780,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Certara in the second quarter valued at about $373,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

About Certara

Certara is a biosimulation software and services company that partners with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device developers to accelerate drug discovery, development and regulatory approval. The company’s platform integrates quantitative pharmacology, real-world evidence, artificial intelligence and machine learning to model and simulate drug behavior across a range of therapeutic areas and patient populations. By applying these mechanistic and data-driven approaches, Certara helps its clients predict clinical outcomes, optimize dosing strategies and streamline decision-making throughout the product lifecycle.

The company’s offerings are divided into software tools and consulting services.