Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

WAY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waystar in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Waystar from $51.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Waystar from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Waystar from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Waystar from $42.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waystar presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.19.

Waystar Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WAY opened at $25.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.75. Waystar has a 52-week low of $21.13 and a 52-week high of $45.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.02.

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.03). Waystar had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $303.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $294.72 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Waystar has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.590-1.680 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waystar will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Waystar news, CTO Christopher L. Schremser sold 8,623 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total value of $262,225.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 422,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,844,302.11. The trade was a 2.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric L. (Ric) Sinclair III sold 40,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.08, for a total transaction of $1,209,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 474,826 shares in the company, valued at $14,282,766.08. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,949 shares of company stock valued at $1,916,380. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waystar

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waystar during the third quarter worth $4,002,000. Munro Partners increased its position in shares of Waystar by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Munro Partners now owns 178,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,784,000 after acquiring an additional 92,695 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Waystar by 2,923.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 882,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,461,000 after acquiring an additional 853,239 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Waystar during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,139,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Waystar by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 515,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,565,000 after purchasing an additional 125,199 shares during the last quarter.

About Waystar

Waystar (NASDAQ:WAY) is a leading provider of cloud-based revenue cycle management and payment solutions for healthcare organizations. The company’s unified platform streamlines the entire financial continuum of patient care, from eligibility verification and claim submission to payment reconciliation and patient billing. By automating key processes and improving claim accuracy, Waystar helps providers reduce administrative overhead, accelerate cash flow and enhance overall revenue performance.

At the core of Waystar’s offering is a SaaS-based architecture that integrates seamlessly with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems and payer networks.