Performant Healthcare (NASDAQ:PHLT) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Performant Healthcare (NASDAQ:PHLT) from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a change in their outlook on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, other brokerage firms like Citizens JMP and JMP Securities have initiated coverage with "strong-buy" and "market outperform" ratings, setting an $8.00 price target.
• Performant Healthcare reported a revenue of $33.27 million for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, although the company faced a negative net margin of 4.62% for the same period.

Performant Healthcare (NASDAQ:PHLT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Sunday.

PHLT has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities began coverage on shares of Performant Healthcare in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of Performant Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.88.

Performant Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of PHLT traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.63. 506,357 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 345,560. The company has a market cap of $597.51 million, a P/E ratio of -95.38 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company's 50-day moving average price is $3.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.01. Performant Healthcare has a 52-week low of $2.17 and a 52-week high of $7.74.

Performant Healthcare (NASDAQ:PHLT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.04. Performant Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 6.68% and a negative net margin of 4.62%. The firm had revenue of $33.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.92 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Performant Healthcare will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lisa Im sold 180,867 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.25, for a total value of $587,817.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,229,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,995,592.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 9.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Performant Healthcare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AMH Equity Ltd bought a new position in Performant Healthcare during the second quarter valued at $1,100,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Performant Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,250,000. CWC Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Performant Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at about $384,000. Mirador Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in Performant Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,698,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Performant Healthcare during the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.15% of the company's stock.

Performant Healthcare Company Profile

Performant Healthcare, Inc engages in the provision of technology-enabled audit, recovery, customer care, and related analytics services. Its services help identify improper payments, and in some markets, restructure and recover delinquent or defaulted assets and improper payments for both government and private clients.