HealthEquity (NASDAQ:HQY) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• HealthEquity shares surged after Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target from $109.00 to $110.00, resulting in a jump from a previous closing price of $88.85 to an opening price of $93.50.
• Multiple analysts have given HealthEquity an overall Buy consensus rating, with price targets increasing significantly by firms such as Deutsche Bank and Bank of America, reaching a high of $125.00.
• Insider trading activity saw EVP Michael Henry Fiore and Director Jon Kessler selling significant shares, leading to substantial decreases in their ownership percentages.

HealthEquity, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQY - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $109.00 to $110.00. The stock had previously closed at $88.85, but opened at $93.50. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. HealthEquity shares last traded at $95.29, with a volume of 465,331 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on HQY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on HealthEquity from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on HealthEquity from $110.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America lifted their price target on HealthEquity from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on HealthEquity from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised HealthEquity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $117.91.

Insider Transactions at HealthEquity

In other news, EVP Michael Henry Fiore sold 1,794 shares of HealthEquity stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.73, for a total value of $182,503.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,414,579.25. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jon Kessler sold 97,767 shares of HealthEquity stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.05, for a total value of $10,954,792.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,403,750. This represents a 56.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 291,744 shares of company stock worth $32,705,007. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HealthEquity

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 50.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,446,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,171,000 after purchasing an additional 821,425 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 124.6% during the second quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,265,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,543,000 after purchasing an additional 701,819 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 1.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,133,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,138,000 after purchasing an additional 15,458 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 2.6% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,129,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,286,000 after purchasing an additional 28,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HealthEquity by 6.2% during the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,108,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,099,000 after purchasing an additional 64,487 shares in the last quarter. 99.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HealthEquity Stock Up 4.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 4.06, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.36.

HealthEquity (NASDAQ:HQY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.16. HealthEquity had a return on equity of 11.01% and a net margin of 9.80%.The company had revenue of $330.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that HealthEquity, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

HealthEquity Company Profile

HealthEquity, Inc provides technology-enabled services platforms to consumers and employers in the United States. The company offers cloud-based platforms for individuals to make health saving and spending decisions, pay healthcare bills, receive personalized benefit information, earn wellness incentives, grow their savings, and make investment choices; and health savings accounts.

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