Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $24.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 1,089,842 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 207% from the previous session’s volume of 354,746 shares.The stock last traded at $14.07 and had previously closed at $14.58.

CNTA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centessa Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 4,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.32, for a total value of $51,362.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 827,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,197,941.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 223,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,350,535. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 4,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.32, for a total transaction of $51,362.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,197,941.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,873 shares of company stock valued at $581,000 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Light Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,923,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 438.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,996,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,024,000 after buying an additional 1,625,000 shares in the last quarter. Octagon Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 333.2% during the 4th quarter. Octagon Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,060,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,398,000 after buying an additional 1,584,500 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,092,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,891,000 after acquiring an additional 987,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 27.6% during the second quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 3,933,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,518,000 after acquiring an additional 850,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 13.29 and a quick ratio of 13.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.46 and a 200 day moving average of $10.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.68 and a beta of 1.44.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.02). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and delivers medicines to patients. Its pipeline products include SerpinPC, an activated protein C inhibitor, which is in Phase IIa clinical development for the treatment of hemophilia A and B; and ORX750, an orally administered OX2R agonist for the treatment of NT1 with potential expansion into other sleep disorders.