Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) received a $80.00 target price from investment analysts at Jefferies Group in a research report issued on Friday. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.81% from the stock’s current price. Jefferies Group also issued estimates for Express Scripts’ Q4 2017 earnings at $2.08 EPS, FY2017 earnings at $7.04 EPS, Q1 2018 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q2 2018 earnings at $1.88 EPS, Q3 2018 earnings at $2.10 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $2.30 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $7.77 EPS.
Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Express Scripts from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Express Scripts from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Express Scripts and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. UBS cut shares of Express Scripts from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Express Scripts in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Express Scripts currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.40.
Shares of Express Scripts (NASDAQ:ESRX) opened at $71.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $39,091.06, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.88. Express Scripts has a fifty-two week low of $55.80 and a fifty-two week high of $73.42.
In other news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth bought 8,000 shares of Express Scripts stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $61.13 per share, for a total transaction of $489,040.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 98,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,029,129.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Phyllis S. Anderson sold 643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.37, for a total transaction of $40,103.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Express Scripts by 0.6% in the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH lifted its stake in Express Scripts by 0.3% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 3,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Express Scripts by 0.3% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Express Scripts by 0.5% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Carroll Financial Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Express Scripts by 1.0% in the second quarter. Carroll Financial Associates Inc. now owns 3,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.44% of the company’s stock.
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About Express Scripts
Express Scripts, Inc is a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company in North America, offering a range of services to its clients, which include health insurers, third-party administrators, employers, union-sponsored benefit plans, workers’ compensation plans and government health programs. It operates in two segments: PBM and Emerging Markets (EM).
