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

Catalent, Inc. (NYSE:CTLT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in 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 presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Catalent in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on Catalent from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.50 price target (up previously from $58.00) on shares of Catalent in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.50 price target on shares of Catalent in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $63.50 price target on shares of Catalent in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Catalent currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.46.

Catalent Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:CTLT opened at $56.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of -8.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.73. Catalent has a fifty-two week low of $31.45 and a fifty-two week high of $67.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.28.

Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Catalent had a negative net margin of 29.91% and a negative return on equity of 2.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Catalent will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Catalent

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CTLT. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Catalent by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Catalent by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Catalent by 125.8% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,231 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Catalent by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Catalent by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 991,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,904,000 after purchasing an additional 17,813 shares during the last quarter.

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.