Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Catalent, Inc. (NYSE:CTLT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $62.28 and last traded at $62.25, with a volume of 899537 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CTLT shares. Baird R W cut Catalent from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com cut Catalent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Catalent in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $63.50 price objective on shares of Catalent in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Catalent presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.40.

Catalent Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.55, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.15 and a 200 day moving average of $58.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Catalent had a negative return on equity of 0.66% and a negative net margin of 9.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Catalent, Inc. will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Catalent

In other Catalent news, Director Michelle R. Ryan sold 2,800 shares of Catalent stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.70, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,849.50. This trade represents a 20.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider David Mcerlane sold 1,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.97, for a total value of $119,580.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,177,150.88. This trade represents a 5.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,114 shares of company stock valued at $305,931. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Catalent

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CTLT. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Catalent in the third quarter worth about $8,480,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Catalent in the third quarter worth about $214,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Catalent in the third quarter worth about $1,078,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Catalent by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 53,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Catalent by 300.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,460,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,578 shares during the period.

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.