LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded LifeStance Health Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on LifeStance Health Group in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of LifeStance Health Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.83.

LifeStance Health Group Stock Performance

Shares of LFST stock opened at $7.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -235.67 and a beta of 1.12. LifeStance Health Group has a 52 week low of $3.74 and a 52 week high of $8.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.80.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $363.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.06 million. LifeStance Health Group had a negative net margin of 0.67% and a negative return on equity of 0.62%. LifeStance Health Group’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LifeStance Health Group will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ann Varanakis sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total value of $345,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 315,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,177,709. This represents a 13.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Bessler sold 119,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.04, for a total transaction of $844,391.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,318,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,285,640.32. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 327,326 shares of company stock worth $2,259,317 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LifeStance Health Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in LifeStance Health Group by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,700,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,086,506 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 27.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,363,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,998,000 after buying an additional 1,790,694 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in LifeStance Health Group by 62.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,793,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,363,000 after buying an additional 1,839,465 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in LifeStance Health Group by 74.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,508,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,297,000 after buying an additional 1,499,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in LifeStance Health Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $17,056,000. 85.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About LifeStance Health Group

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) is a leading provider of outpatient mental health services in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates a growing network of clinics that deliver integrated, patient-centered psychological and psychiatric care. LifeStance’s mission is to expand access to high-quality mental health treatment by combining evidence-based therapy modalities with personalized treatment plans.

The company’s service offerings include individual, family, and group psychotherapy, psychiatric medication management, psychological assessment, and telehealth services.