Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target for LifeStance Health Group from $13 to $15 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 18.86% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly favorable, with a MarketBeat consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.88, although several firms maintain neutral or hold ratings.
• LifeStance exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.06 EPS versus a $0.03 estimate and $435.35 million in revenue, up 26.1% year over year. However, insiders sold more than $155 million of stock over the past 90 days.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Barclays from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Barclays's price objective points to a potential upside of 18.86% from the company's previous close.

LFST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on LifeStance Health Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $9.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of LifeStance Health Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of LifeStance Health Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, LifeStance Health Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.88.

LifeStance Health Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ LFST opened at $12.62 on Thursday. LifeStance Health Group has a 52-week low of $4.77 and a 52-week high of $13.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $11.60 and a 200-day moving average of $8.93. The company has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.08 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.03. LifeStance Health Group had a return on equity of 3.39% and a net margin of 3.19%.The business had revenue of $435.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $414.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that LifeStance Health Group will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Vukasin Paunovich sold 42,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.87, for a total value of $541,402.29. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 205,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,227.73. This trade represents a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tpg Gp A, Llc sold 13,643,207 shares of LifeStance Health Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.62, for a total transaction of $144,890,858.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,101,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,836,942.34. The trade was a 12.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,671,917 shares of company stock worth $155,493,415. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LifeStance Health Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LFST. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 63.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 70,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 27,244 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 223.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 51,500 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 35,554 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 142,950 shares of the company's stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 4,169 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 615,652 shares of the company's stock worth $4,100,000 after purchasing an additional 11,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in LifeStance Health Group by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 550,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 51,154 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.50% of the company's stock.

LifeStance Health Group Company Profile

LifeStance Health Group NASDAQ: LFST is a leading provider of outpatient mental health services in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates a growing network of clinics that deliver integrated, patient-centered psychological and psychiatric care. LifeStance’s mission is to expand access to high-quality mental health treatment by combining evidence-based therapy modalities with personalized treatment plans.

The company’s service offerings include individual, family, and group psychotherapy, psychiatric medication management, psychological assessment, and telehealth services.

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