Short Interest in Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED) Increases By 18.5%

Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMED - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,790,000 shares, an increase of 18.5% from the September 15th total of 1,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 384,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMED has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair downgraded Amedisys from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Amedisys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $101.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Amedisys in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amedisys presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.67.

Amedisys Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Amedisys stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $96.81. The company had a trading volume of 165,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,408. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.27. Amedisys has a fifty-two week low of $89.55 and a fifty-two week high of $98.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -151.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The health services provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.10. Amedisys had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $591.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $579.34 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Amedisys will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Amedisys by 2.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,145 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Bridge City Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Amedisys by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 29,861 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $2,752,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Amedisys by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,199 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Amedisys by 14.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,190 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in Amedisys by 7.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,295 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. 94.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Amedisys

Amedisys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides healthcare services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home Health, Hospice, and High Acuity Care. The Home Health segment offers a range of services in the homes of individuals for the recovery of patients from surgery, chronic disability, or terminal illness, as well as prevents avoidable hospital readmissions through its skilled nurses; nursing services, rehabilitation therapists specialized in physical, speech, and occupational therapy; and social workers and aides for assisting its patients.