Zacks Research Upgrades Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) to “Strong-Buy”

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

WAY has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waystar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Waystar from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Waystar from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Waystar in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Finally, JMP Securities assumed coverage on Waystar in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.43.

Waystar Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WAY traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $36.46. 312,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,145,409. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 3.89, a current ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Waystar has a 1 year low of $29.07 and a 1 year high of $48.11.

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.03. Waystar had a return on equity of 6.83% and a net margin of 10.69%.The firm had revenue of $268.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Waystar has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.460-1.470 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Waystar will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Waystar

In other Waystar news, insider T. Craig Bridge sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.06, for a total transaction of $3,405,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 583,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,201.30. This trade represents a 12.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Hawkins sold 46,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.66, for a total value of $1,617,478.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 764,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,484,780.46. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 4,546,249 shares of company stock worth $177,987,193 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waystar by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waystar by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waystar by 50.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waystar by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Waystar by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 7,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter.

About Waystar

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