Littlejohn & Co. LLC Sells 149,123 Shares of Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH)

Key Points

• Littlejohn & Co. LLC reduced its stake in Aveanna Healthcare Holdings by 1.9%, selling 149,123 shares, and now holds 7,561,740 shares, which accounts for 21.3% of its portfolio.
• Insider sales included Robert M. Williams, Jr. selling 750,000 shares for approximately $3.9 million, reducing his ownership by 2.53%, while insiders collectively sold nearly 7 million shares valued at over $37 million in recent months.
• Aveanna's stock price opened at $7.15, with analysts giving it a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $6.45, following mixed ratings from various brokerages.

Littlejohn & Co. LLC cut its position in Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAH - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,561,740 shares of the company's stock after selling 149,123 shares during the period. Aveanna Healthcare accounts for 21.3% of Littlejohn & Co. LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Littlejohn & Co. LLC owned about 3.88% of Aveanna Healthcare worth $40,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 662.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,889 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6,854 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aveanna Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. 87.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 750,000 shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total value of $3,900,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 28,890,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,231,931.20. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick A. Cunningham sold 18,500 shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $91,205.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 327,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,616,394.17. The trade was a 5.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,977,245 shares of company stock valued at $37,037,197. Insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Aveanna Healthcare Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:AVAH opened at $7.15 on Thursday. Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.67 and a 52 week high of $7.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.38 and a beta of 1.95. The stock's fifty day moving average is $4.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVAH. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Aveanna Healthcare from $5.00 to $6.75 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Aveanna Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $6.25 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aveanna Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Aveanna Healthcare from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $9.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Aveanna Healthcare from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aveanna Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.45.

About Aveanna Healthcare

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc, a diversified home care platform company, provides pediatric and adult healthcare services in the United States. Its patient-centered care delivery platform allows patients to remain in their homes and minimizes the overutilization of high-cost care settings, such as hospitals or skilled nursing facilities.

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