Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) Short Interest Update

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,630,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the November 30th total of 3,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 539,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.7 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Centessa Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 644,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,789. The company has a current ratio of 21.52, a quick ratio of 21.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of -10.95 and a beta of 1.52. Centessa Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $6.65 and a 52 week high of $18.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.01.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.05. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centessa Pharmaceuticals will post -1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centessa Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 2,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.32, for a total value of $39,709.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 630,661 shares in the company, valued at $9,661,726.52. This represents a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $170,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 183,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,122,852.64. This represents a 5.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 368,023 shares of company stock worth $6,335,574. Insiders own 11.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNTA. First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 59.2% in the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 4,780,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,168,000 after buying an additional 1,778,515 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 438.0% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,996,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $20,698,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 99.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,302,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,823 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 89.5% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,092,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,891,000 after purchasing an additional 987,997 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. B. Riley assumed coverage on Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.