First Trust Advisors LP Has $17.67 Million Stake in Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED – Get Rating) by 54.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,539 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,019 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.56% of Amedisys worth $17,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Amedisys by 2.4% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 598,934 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $57,971,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amedisys by 1.5% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,960,416 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $383,327,000 after purchasing an additional 57,035 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Amedisys by 24.3% in the third quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 12,386 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,424 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amedisys by 164.4% in the third quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 15,484 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 9,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amedisys by 7.9% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 165,233 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $15,991,000 after purchasing an additional 12,082 shares in the last quarter. 96.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amedisys Price Performance

Amedisys stock opened at $82.54 on Friday. Amedisys, Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.30 and a 12 month high of $179.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $90.33 and its 200-day moving average is $95.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.04.

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The health services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $562.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.46 million. Amedisys had a return on equity of 15.44% and a net margin of 5.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Amedisys, Inc. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amedisys news, insider Michael Paul North sold 5,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.43, for a total transaction of $510,628.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,164 shares in the company, valued at $359,894.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMED. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Amedisys from $145.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Amedisys in a report on Monday, February 13th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Amedisys in a report on Thursday, February 16th. SVB Leerink dropped their target price on Amedisys from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Amedisys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.53.

Amedisys Company Profile

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Amedisys, Inc engages in the provision of healthcare services. It operates through the following business segments: Home Health, Hospice, Personal Care, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment delivers services in the homes of individuals who may be recovering from an illness, injury, or surgery.