AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.15, but opened at $28.60. AMN Healthcare Services shares last traded at $28.67, with a volume of 218,410 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMN. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of AMN Healthcare Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JMP Securities decreased their target price on AMN Healthcare Services from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on AMN Healthcare Services from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on AMN Healthcare Services from $41.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded AMN Healthcare Services from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AMN Healthcare Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

AMN Healthcare Services Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38 and a beta of 0.04.

AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. AMN Healthcare Services had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 1.73%. The business had revenue of $687.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AMN Healthcare Services

In related news, CFO Jeffrey R. Knudson sold 2,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total transaction of $90,810.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,385,595. This trade represents a 6.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AMN Healthcare Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in AMN Healthcare Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $818,000. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in AMN Healthcare Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,696,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in AMN Healthcare Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,481,000. New South Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in AMN Healthcare Services by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 563,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,850,000 after purchasing an additional 111,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in AMN Healthcare Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,293,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,831,000 after buying an additional 30,157 shares during the last quarter. 99.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AMN Healthcare Services Company Profile

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc provides healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to healthcare facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: Nurse and Allied Solutions, Physician and Leadership Solutions, and Technology and Workforce Solutions. The Nurse and Allied Solutions segment offers travel nurse staffing, labor disruption staffing, local staffing, international nurse and allied permanent placement, and allied staffing solutions.