Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in LifeStance Health Group, Inc. $LFST

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its LifeStance Health Group stake by 4.3% in the first quarter, though it still held 3.08 million shares valued at about $19.6 million.
• Insider selling was heavy, with directors Eric Shuey and Darren M. Black selling a combined 6.14 million shares on May 12; insiders have sold 7.76 million shares over the last quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with several firms raising price targets to $13 and the stock carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a target price of $11.12.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,077,655 shares of the company's stock after selling 137,665 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.79% of LifeStance Health Group worth $19,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 27,244 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 223.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 51,500 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 35,554 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 142,950 shares of the company's stock worth $952,000 after acquiring an additional 4,169 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 615,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,100,000 after acquiring an additional 11,331 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 51,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eric Shuey sold 243,362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.02, for a total value of $1,951,763.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 867,562 shares in the company, valued at $6,957,847.24. This trade represents a 21.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Darren M. Black sold 5,899,661 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.02, for a total value of $47,315,281.22. Following the sale, the director owned 23,310,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $186,947,122.30. The trade was a 20.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 7,757,293 shares of company stock worth $64,072,101 over the last quarter. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on LifeStance Health Group from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded LifeStance Health Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Barclays upped their target price on LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered LifeStance Health Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $11.12.

LifeStance Health Group Stock Up 1.0%

LFST opened at $11.45 on Wednesday. LifeStance Health Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.74 and a twelve month high of $11.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.74. The company has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 190.83 and a beta of 1.12.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.03. LifeStance Health Group had a net margin of 1.55% and a return on equity of 1.56%. The firm had revenue of $403.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.46 million. LifeStance Health Group's quarterly revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that LifeStance Health Group, Inc. will post 0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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