BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• BrightSpring Health Services has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts such as Wells Fargo and TD Cowen have increased their target prices for the stock, with consensus now at $24.90.
• Insider trading activity has been notable, with major shareholder Phoenix Aggregator L.P. selling over 2 million shares recently, signaling possible changes in investor sentiment or strategy.

BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

BTSG has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on BrightSpring Health Services from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BrightSpring Health Services from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on BrightSpring Health Services in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho set a $26.00 target price on shares of BrightSpring Health Services in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.90.

BrightSpring Health Services Stock Down 1.9%

BTSG stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.10. 1,739,859 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,818,283. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.79 and a beta of 2.30. BrightSpring Health Services has a 52-week low of $10.15 and a 52-week high of $25.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ:BTSG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.10. BrightSpring Health Services had a net margin of 0.49% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BrightSpring Health Services will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at BrightSpring Health Services

In other news, insider Jon B. Rousseau sold 531,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.75, for a total transaction of $11,567,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,184,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,754,892.75. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Phoenix Aggregator L.P. Kkr sold 13,288,101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.15, for a total value of $281,043,336.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 79,671,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,685,060,325.45. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,919,941 shares of company stock valued at $337,025,856. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BrightSpring Health Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BrightSpring Health Services by 2,526.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 13,921 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in BrightSpring Health Services by 131.8% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 37,918 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 21,563 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in BrightSpring Health Services by 6.8% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,650 shares of the company's stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in BrightSpring Health Services by 4.8% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 77,100 shares of the company's stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 3,517 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in BrightSpring Health Services in the first quarter worth $561,000.

About BrightSpring Health Services

BrightSpring Health Services, Inc operates a home and community-based healthcare services platform in the United States. The company's platform focuses on delivering pharmacy and provider services, including clinical and supportive care in home and community settings to Medicare, Medicaid, and insured populations.