Waystar Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:WAY) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Waystar Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:WAY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,960,000 shares, a growth of 44.0% from the April 30th total of 4,140,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insider Activity at Waystar

In other news, major shareholder Canada Pension Plan Investment sold 4,111,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.39, for a total value of $153,723,638.23. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,580,929 shares in the company, valued at $956,470,935.31. This represents a 13.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Hawkins sold 46,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.36, for a total transaction of $1,696,812.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,000 shares in the company, valued at $18,180,000. This represents a 8.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,655,997 shares of company stock valued at $324,170,981 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAY. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waystar in the fourth quarter valued at $119,387,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waystar by 62.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,090,547 shares of the company's stock worth $302,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,099,211 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Waystar by 9,107.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,040,285 shares of the company's stock worth $76,225,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,125 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waystar during the fourth quarter worth about $56,804,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waystar during the fourth quarter worth about $49,251,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WAY shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Waystar in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial set a $50.00 price target on Waystar and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Waystar from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Waystar from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Waystar from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Waystar Trading Up 1.1%

Waystar stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $40.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,364,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,941,298. Waystar has a twelve month low of $20.26 and a twelve month high of $48.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion and a PE ratio of 445.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 2.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $38.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.69.

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $256.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.47 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Waystar will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

About Waystar

Waystar Holding Corp. is a software company which provide healthcare payments. Waystar Holding Corp. is based in LEHI, Utah.