Catalent Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CTLT)

Catalent, Inc. (NYSE:CTLT) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 5,002 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 358% compared to the average daily volume of 1,093 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Alessandro Maselli sold 9,088 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.76, for a total value of $534,010.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,431,133.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ricky Hopson sold 662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.56, for a total transaction of $39,428.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,785,251.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Alessandro Maselli sold 9,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.76, for a total transaction of $534,010.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,521 shares in the company, valued at $10,431,133.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,409 shares of company stock valued at $782,923. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Catalent

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CTLT. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Catalent during the second quarter worth approximately $29,172,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Catalent during the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Catalent by 37.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 28,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,576,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Catalent by 129.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,079,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,416,000 after buying an additional 2,299,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of Catalent in the second quarter worth about $788,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CTLT. Barclays upped their target price on Catalent from $47.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Baird R W cut shares of Catalent from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Catalent in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating for the company. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Catalent in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.50 price objective on shares of Catalent in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.83.

Catalent Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CTLT opened at $60.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.64 and a 200 day moving average of $57.31. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of -9.88, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.15. Catalent has a one year low of $31.80 and a one year high of $61.20.

Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Catalent had a negative net margin of 22.72% and a negative return on equity of 0.56%. As a group, research analysts predict that Catalent will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Catalent

Catalent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures solutions for drugs, protein-based biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products worldwide. It operates in two segments, Biologics, and Pharma and Consumer Health. The Biologics segment provides formulation, development, and manufacturing for biologic proteins, cell gene, and other nucleic acid therapies; pDNA, iPSCs, oncolytic viruses, and vaccines; formulation, development, and manufacturing for parenteral dose forms, including vials, prefilled syringes, and cartridges; and analytical development and testing services for large molecules.