Short Interest in Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) Expands By 79.1%

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) saw a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, a growth of 79.1% from the August 15th total of 1,100,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 422,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Centessa Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 12,198 shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.17, for a total value of $148,449.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 241,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,935,051.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Centessa Pharmaceuticals news, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 12,198 shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.17, for a total transaction of $148,449.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 241,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,935,051.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 4,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 827,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,197,941.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,873 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,000 in the last 90 days. 11.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Sandia Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $90,000. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $99,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $114,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CNTA shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.60.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 12.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CNTA traded up $1.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,318,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,859. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.22 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $11.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.45. Centessa Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $5.15 and a 12-month high of $17.59. The company has a current ratio of 13.29, a quick ratio of 13.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.02). As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centessa Pharmaceuticals will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.