Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD) has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, impacting investor sentiment.
• The stock price target from UBS Group has increased to $16.50, while Zacks Research raised their rating to "strong-buy," indicating mixed analyst opinions.
• Pediatrix reported a 53% increase in earnings per share compared to the previous year, although revenue decreased by 7.1%, highlighting challenges despite profitability.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MD. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Pediatrix Medical Group from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Pediatrix Medical Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Pediatrix Medical Group from $14.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.79.

Pediatrix Medical Group Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE MD traded down $0.43 on Friday, hitting $16.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 580,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,507. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Pediatrix Medical Group has a 1-year low of $10.39 and a 1-year high of $17.67. The company's 50-day moving average is $14.81 and its 200 day moving average is $14.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 1.29.

Pediatrix Medical Group (NYSE:MD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.11. Pediatrix Medical Group had a net margin of 5.66% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $468.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $464.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The company's revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Pediatrix Medical Group will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MD. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 966,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,678,000 after buying an additional 147,522 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 16,256 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 74,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 25,663 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 15,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 49,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,801 shares in the last quarter. 97.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Pediatrix Medical Group

Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides newborn, maternal-fetal, pediatric cardiology, and other pediatric subspecialty care services in the United States. It offers neonatal care services, such as clinical care to babies born prematurely or with complications within specific units at hospitals through neonatal physician subspecialists, neonatal nurse practitioners, and other pediatric clinicians.