Baird R W Upgrades Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) to “Strong-Buy”

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) was upgraded by equities researchers at Baird R W to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen raised Waystar to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Waystar in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on Waystar from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Waystar in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Waystar in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waystar currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.67.

Waystar Stock Performance

Shares of WAY opened at $37.27 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.99. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Waystar has a 12 month low of $25.76 and a 12 month high of $48.11. The company has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.78.

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Waystar had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business had revenue of $270.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $255.26 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Waystar has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.360-1.400 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Waystar will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider T. Craig Bridge sold 85,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.09, for a total value of $3,152,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 682,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,326,646.87. This trade represents a 11.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Christopher L. Schremser sold 8,623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.49, for a total value of $297,407.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 438,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,108,137.56. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 246,411 shares of company stock valued at $9,110,688 in the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waystar

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAY. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Waystar by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Waystar by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 376,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,799,000 after buying an additional 17,398 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waystar in the 4th quarter worth $503,000. Comerica Bank increased its stake in Waystar by 3,523.5% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 42,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after buying an additional 41,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Waystar by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 146,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,372,000 after buying an additional 63,326 shares in the last quarter.

Waystar Company Profile

Waystar Holding Corp. is a software company which provide healthcare payments. Waystar Holding Corp. is based in LEHI, Utah.