Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Trading Down 4.5% on Insider Selling

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) traded down 4.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $17.38 and last traded at $17.38. 600,342 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 46% from the average session volume of 411,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.19.

Specifically, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.89, for a total value of $928,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 575,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,722,914.29. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 1,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.24, for a total transaction of $30,479.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 575,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,500,056.64. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed 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 target price on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 6.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of -11.14 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.09 and its 200-day moving average is $12.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 21.52 and a quick ratio of 21.52.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.05. On average, analysts anticipate that Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc will post -1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 59.2% during the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 4,780,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,168,000 after buying an additional 1,778,515 shares during the period. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 27.6% in the second quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 3,933,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,518,000 after buying an additional 850,000 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 16.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,958,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,427,000 after buying an additional 418,615 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,916,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,635,000 after buying an additional 129,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 54.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,715,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,423,000 after buying an additional 953,659 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and delivers medicines for patients. Its products pipeline includes SerpinPC, an activated protein C inhibitor for the treatment of hemophilia A and B; and ORX750, an orally administered OX2R agonist for the treatment of narcolepsy and other sleep disorders.