Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) ‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Zacks Investment Research in a research note issued to investors on Monday. They presently have a $107.00 price objective on the price target suggests a potential upside of 15.89% from the stock’s current price.
According to Zacks, “Express Scripts has outperformed the industry in the past year. The company has been gaining from strong performance by the core PBM unit. Developments in the company’s Inside Rx program also buoy optimism. The company recently announced a three-year agreement with Walmart which buoys optimism. Introduction of Flex Formulary and myDataSense by the company are positive developments in recent times. The company is also getting acquired by Cigna by December 2018. However, Express Scripts currently faces persistent drug pricing issue. Express Scripts announced that its biggest customer and leading health insurer Anthem is not likely to extend the PBM agreement with the company anymore. Furthermore, the company has currently suspended share repurchase program because of the merger agreement with Cigna. Express Scripts has not provided any guidance for 2018.”
Get Express Scripts alerts: A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ESRX. Royal Bank of Canada set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Express Scripts and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Express Scripts from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Leerink Swann set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Express Scripts and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Maxim Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Express Scripts in a research note on Thursday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Express Scripts and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 5th. One investment twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.71.
Shares of ESRX opened at $92.33 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.88. Express Scripts has a 52-week low of $66.93 and a 52-week high of $101.73.
Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 31st. The company reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $25.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.11 billion. Express Scripts had a net margin of 4.83% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Express Scripts will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
In other Express Scripts news, Director Mahon Thomas P. Mac sold 5,234 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.50, for a total transaction of $520,783.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link . 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESRX. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Express Scripts by 370.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,842,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,199,000 after purchasing an additional 9,325,455 shares during the last quarter. Abrams Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Express Scripts in the second quarter worth approximately $204,846,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Express Scripts by 72.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,548 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Express Scripts by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 40,305,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,829,396,000 after acquiring an additional 580,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Express Scripts by 25.7% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,477,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,349,000 after acquiring an additional 505,896 shares during the last quarter. 84.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Express Scripts Company Profile
Express Scripts Holding Company operates as a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company in the United States and Canada. The company's PBM segment offers clinical solutions; and specialized pharmacy care, home delivery and specialty pharmacy, retail network pharmacy administration, benefit design consultation, drug utilization review, drug formulary management, public exchange, administration of group purchasing organization, and digital consumer health and drug information services.
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Express Scripts (ESRX)
Express Scripts Express Scripts
