Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Shares Down 3.4% – Should You Sell?

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) shares dropped 3.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $15.88 and last traded at $15.73. Approximately 16,371 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average daily volume of 469,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $25.83.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.76 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 21.52 and a current ratio of 21.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.88.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Karen M. Anderson sold 5,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.01, for a total transaction of $99,950.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,216,640.25. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 1,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.24, for a total value of $30,479.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 575,661 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 392,484 shares of company stock worth $6,723,523. Corporate insiders own 11.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNTA. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 3,933,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,518,000 after purchasing an additional 850,000 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 129,300 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 953,659 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 99.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,302,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 89.5% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,092,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,891,000 after acquiring an additional 987,997 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.