LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFST)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $7.27, but opened at $7.72. LifeStance Health Group shares last traded at $7.4560, with a volume of 773,973 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LFST shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded LifeStance Health Group from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised LifeStance Health Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on LifeStance Health Group from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on LifeStance Health Group from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.83.

LifeStance Health Group Trading Up 4.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 380.44 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.57.

LifeStance Health Group (NASDAQ:LFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $382.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.51 million. LifeStance Health Group had a return on equity of 0.65% and a net margin of 0.68%.LifeStance Health Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. Research analysts predict that LifeStance Health Group, Inc. will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LifeStance Health Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 25th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at LifeStance Health Group

In related news, Director Robert Bessler sold 62,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.05, for a total value of $438,136.35. Following the sale, the director owned 1,274,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,984,858.40. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Darren M. Black sold 4,314,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.01, for a total transaction of $30,247,722.39. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,209,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,760,529.76. This represents a 12.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,389,939 shares of company stock worth $30,775,881 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LFST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,700,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,608,000 after acquiring an additional 3,086,506 shares during the period. Silversmith Partners I GP LLC bought a new stake in shares of LifeStance Health Group in the 4th quarter worth about $100,842,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of LifeStance Health Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,906,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,704,000 after purchasing an additional 542,858 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in LifeStance Health Group by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,118,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,071,000 after buying an additional 1,324,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $26,363,000 after buying an additional 1,839,465 shares in the last quarter. 85.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.