Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Waystar Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:WAY)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $39.00. The stock had previously closed at $28.14, but opened at $25.43. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Waystar shares last traded at $26.7460, with a volume of 411,770 shares.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Waystar in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Waystar from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Waystar from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Waystar in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Waystar in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Matthew Hawkins sold 82,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.23, for a total transaction of $2,163,975.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,804,794 shares in the company, valued at $47,339,746.62. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 247,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,370,499 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waystar

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Waystar by 6,475.0% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waystar by 310.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waystar by 1,432.7% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waystar by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waystar by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter.

Waystar Trading Down 2.7%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.38 and a 200-day moving average of $23.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.11.

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Waystar had a return on equity of 6.91% and a net margin of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $325.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. Waystar’s quarterly revenue was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waystar Holding Corp. will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Waystar

Waystar Holding Corp. is a healthcare technology company that provides cloud-based software designed to simplify administrative and financial processes across the healthcare industry. Its platform connects healthcare providers, health plans and patients, helping organizations manage revenue cycle operations and improve the flow of information and payments.

The company’s products and services include electronic claims management, eligibility and benefits verification, prior authorization, payment integrity, denial management, patient estimates and payments, billing automation, and healthcare analytics.