Clover Health Investments (NASDAQ:CLOV) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Clover Health Investments, Corp. (NASDAQ:CLOV) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $4.58, but opened at $5.17. Clover Health Investments shares last traded at $4.87, with a volume of 2,404,862 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Clover Health Investments from $4.20 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Clover Health Investments to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Clover Health Investments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Clover Health Investments in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Clover Health Investments in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clover Health Investments presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.75.

Clover Health Investments Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of -94.66 and a beta of 2.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.88.

Clover Health Investments (NASDAQ:CLOV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.01. Clover Health Investments had a negative net margin of 0.74% and a negative return on equity of 4.20%. The business had revenue of $743.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.27 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Clover Health Investments, Corp. will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Karen Soares sold 6,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.78, for a total value of $32,723.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,607,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,683,233.38. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Joseph Frank Oldakowski sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.16, for a total transaction of $103,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 279,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,439,985.72. This trade represents a 6.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 736,620 shares of company stock worth $3,310,691 in the last ninety days. 23.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clover Health Investments

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ballew Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Clover Health Investments in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clover Health Investments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,156,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Clover Health Investments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $913,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Clover Health Investments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP grew its stake in Clover Health Investments by 602.6% during the 2nd quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 146,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 125,708 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.77% of the company’s stock.

About Clover Health Investments

Clover Health Investments, Corp. is a healthcare technology and Medicare Advantage company headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee. Through its insurance subsidiary, Clover Health Insurance Company, the company offers Medicare Advantage plans to eligible beneficiaries in select counties across the United States. Its plans are designed to provide coverage for hospital, medical and supplemental healthcare services through a managed-care structure.

Clover’s technology platform, Clover Assistant, is intended to support physicians by organizing patient information, identifying potential care needs and helping providers coordinate treatment.