Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) Shares Up 7.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Waystar Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:WAY)’s share price was up 7.9% on Thursday after KeyCorp upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $23.39 and last traded at $23.1230. 2,438,538 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 2,625,115 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.43.

WAY has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Waystar from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Waystar from $36.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Waystar from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Waystar from $42.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Waystar in a report on Monday, March 30th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waystar currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waystar

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAY. Advent International L.P. bought a new position in shares of Waystar during the 4th quarter valued at about $362,212,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Waystar by 3,883.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,268,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,601,000 after buying an additional 3,186,869 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in Waystar by 4,717.4% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,814,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,811,000 after buying an additional 1,776,979 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Waystar by 152.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,489,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,405,000 after buying an additional 1,504,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Waystar in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,642,000.

Waystar Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.03. Waystar had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 6.99%. The firm had revenue of $313.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Waystar has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.590-1.680 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waystar Holding Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Waystar Company Profile

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) is a leading provider of cloud-based revenue cycle management and payment solutions for healthcare organizations. The company’s unified platform streamlines the entire financial continuum of patient care, from eligibility verification and claim submission to payment reconciliation and patient billing. By automating key processes and improving claim accuracy, Waystar helps providers reduce administrative overhead, accelerate cash flow and enhance overall revenue performance.

At the core of Waystar’s offering is a SaaS-based architecture that integrates seamlessly with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems and payer networks.