Short Interest in Catalent, Inc. (NYSE:CTLT) Rises By 8.4%

Catalent, Inc. (NYSE:CTLT) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,850,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the February 29th total of 7,240,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Catalent Stock Up 0.4 %

Catalent stock opened at $56.70 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Catalent has a 1-year low of $31.45 and a 1-year high of $67.54. The company has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.20.

Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.22). Catalent had a negative net margin of 29.91% and a negative return on equity of 2.43%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Catalent’s revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Catalent will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Catalent

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CTLT. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Catalent by 149.4% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 11,487,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,126,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,914 shares during the period. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Catalent by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 585,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,305,000 after buying an additional 35,063 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Catalent in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Catalent by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 63,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after buying an additional 3,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Catalent during the 4th quarter worth approximately $432,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CTLT shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Catalent in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Catalent from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.50 price target on shares of Catalent in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $63.50 price objective (up previously from $58.00) on shares of Catalent in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.50 target price on shares of Catalent in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.46.

About Catalent

Catalent, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures solutions for drugs, protein-based biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products worldwide. It operates in two segments, Biologics, and Pharma and Consumer Health. The Biologics segment provides formulation, development, and manufacturing for biologic proteins, cell gene, and other nucleic acid therapies; pDNA, iPSCs, oncolytic viruses, and vaccines; formulation, development, and manufacturing for parenteral dose forms, including vials, prefilled syringes, and cartridges; and analytical development and testing services for large molecules.