Axa S.A. Makes New Investment in Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM)

AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Select Medical Holdings Co. (NYSE:SEM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 29,663 shares of the health services provider's stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Select Medical by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 31,441 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Select Medical by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,030 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Select Medical by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 13,354 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Select Medical by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 11,304 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in Select Medical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 56,719 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David S. Chernow sold 225,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $4,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 714,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,861,288. This represents a 23.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Parvinderjit S. Khanuja bought 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.02 per share, with a total value of $315,420.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 65,089 shares in the company, valued at $977,636.78. This represents a 47.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Select Medical Price Performance

Shares of Select Medical stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Monday, reaching $15.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 912,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,879. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Select Medical Holdings Co. has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $40.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.40.

Select Medical (NYSE:SEM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The health services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Select Medical had a return on equity of 14.04% and a net margin of 3.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Select Medical Holdings Co. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Select Medical declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the health services provider to buy up to 42.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Select Medical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Select Medical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SEM. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Select Medical in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark upgraded shares of Select Medical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Select Medical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Select Medical from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.00.

About Select Medical

Select Medical Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates critical illness recovery hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and occupational health centers in the United States. It operates in four segments: Critical Illness Recovery Hospital, Rehabilitation Hospital, Outpatient Rehabilitation, and Concentra.