Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Guggenheim

Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CNTA)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by Guggenheim in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley Financial cut shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Lifesci Capital downgraded shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centessa Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of CNTA stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 669,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,772. The stock has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.70 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 10.57 and a current ratio of 10.56. Centessa Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $9.60 and a 52-week high of $40.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.35.

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

Insider Transactions at Centessa Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Iqbal J. Hussain sold 38,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.15, for a total value of $979,617.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 57,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,449,771.75. This trade represents a 40.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Karen M. Anderson sold 120,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.25, for a total transaction of $3,150,761.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 62,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,629,731.25. This trade represents a 65.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 349,073 shares of company stock worth $9,429,412 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 116.2% in the third quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,808,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,096,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808,080 shares during the period. EcoR1 Capital LLC raised its stake in Centessa Pharmaceuticals by 466.4% during the 4th quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 3,115,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565,000 shares during the period. Braidwell LP purchased a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,730,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,429,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Centessa Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,110,000. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Centessa Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Lilly agreed to acquire Centessa for $38/share plus a CVR worth up to $9, valuing the deal up to $7.8B — a liquidity event that explains the stock’s sharp rally on the deal news. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually high call-option buying has been reported around the announcement, signaling bullish/speculative positioning and contributing to intraday upside. Investors Purchase High Volume of Centessa Pharmaceuticals Call Options
• Neutral Sentiment: Leerink downgraded the stock to “hold” but raised its price target to $40 (slightly above the current quote), suggesting mixed analyst views about upside beyond the deal price. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple research firms (B. Riley, Lifesci Capital, Wolfe Research, Needham, Stephens and others) have downgraded CNTA to “hold,” increasing selling pressure and signaling caution about post-deal upside or deal-related risks. Zacks coverage Wolfe Research downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Large put-option activity was reported (massive spike in put purchases), indicating hedging or speculation on downside/closing risk for the transaction. (Options-volume reports noted on 4/1–4/2.)
• Negative Sentiment: Several shareholder-lawyer firms launched investigations and issued alerts over whether the proposed sale price/process is fair to public shareholders — litigation risk and deal-delaying actions could pressure the stock. PR Newswire Business Wire
• Negative Sentiment: Centessa reported a Q1 EPS miss (‑$0.48 vs. ‑$0.38 est.), a reminder of operating losses and limited standalone fundamentals outside the deal context. Earnings release

About Centessa Pharmaceuticals

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.