Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Lifesci Capital

Lifesci Capital lowered shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Stephens lowered Centessa Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Financial downgraded Centessa Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ CNTA opened at $39.86 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.35. Centessa Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $9.60 and a 52 week high of $40.26. The company has a current ratio of 10.56, a quick ratio of 10.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.78 and a beta of 1.25.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 6th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.10). Equities research analysts predict that Centessa Pharmaceuticals will post -1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Centessa Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Karen M. Anderson sold 41,076 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.12, for a total transaction of $1,237,209.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 62,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,870,000.20. This trade represents a 39.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Iqbal J. Hussain sold 38,951 shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total value of $979,617.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 57,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,449,771.75. This trade represents a 40.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 349,073 shares of company stock valued at $9,429,412. Insiders own 7.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNTA. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 7,580.0% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 3,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knott David M Jr acquired a new stake in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

More Centessa Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Centessa Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Centessa for $38 cash per share plus a contingent value right worth up to ~$9, valuing the deal up to ~$7.8B — the takeover premium is the main upward driver for CNTA. Lilly to acquire Centessa — CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option purchases have been reported (multiple days of elevated call volume), indicating speculative/leveraged bullish positioning around the deal and near-term upside. High volume call options — AmericanBankingNews
• Neutral Sentiment: Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and raised its price target to $40 (from $36) — a modest endorsement but effectively sets expectations near the deal price. Leerink reaffirmation — Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Several sell-side firms (Wolfe Research, Needham, Stephens and others) have downgraded CNTA to Hold from higher ratings this week — analyst downgrades can increase selling pressure and reduce conviction among non-deal investors. Wolfe downgrade — AmericanBankingNews
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have launched investigations and shareholder class-action alerts assessing whether the sale price/process is fair to public shareholders — heightened legal/transaction risk can weigh on sentiment and vote outcomes. Shareholder investigation — PR Newswire
• Negative Sentiment: Large put-option purchases were also reported (very high put volume on 4/1), and the company last reported an EPS miss for the quarter — both signal hedging/speculation to the downside and highlight operational/earnings weakness.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc is a global clinical?stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapies across multiple disease areas. The company operates a modular R&D network, bringing together a portfolio of independent, specialist research entities under a single corporate umbrella. This structure is designed to accelerate decision?making and resource allocation while leveraging deep scientific expertise in each therapeutic domain.

Centessa’s pipeline spans oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, as well as rare genetic disorders.