Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,350,000 shares, a growth of 37.3% from the November 15th total of 2,440,000 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 680,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of CNTA traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.57. The stock had a trading volume of 873,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,306. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $16.50 and its 200 day moving average is $13.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of -10.83 and a beta of 1.52. 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 has a 1 year low of $6.65 and a 1 year high of $18.97.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Centessa Pharmaceuticals will post -1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centessa Pharmaceuticals news, insider Gregory M. Weinhoff sold 11,742 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.38, for a total transaction of $180,591.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 183,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,818,631.08. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Saurabh Saha sold 87,496 shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.46, for a total value of $1,615,176.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 575,661 shares in the company, valued at $10,626,702.06. This trade represents a 13.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 262,624 shares of company stock worth $4,497,698. 11.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centessa Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNTA. First Light Asset Management LLC increased 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 worth $43,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,515 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 438.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,996,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,024,000 after buying an additional 1,625,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,698,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 99.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,302,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,360,000 after buying an additional 1,145,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 89.5% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,092,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,891,000 after buying an additional 987,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNTA. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $11.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.83.

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.