Performant Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PFMT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Performant Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PFMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 918,700 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the October 31st total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 142,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley reduced their target price on Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum raised Performant Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Performant Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFMT. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Performant Financial by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,256,841 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,545,000 after purchasing an additional 37,500 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Performant Financial by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,953 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 20,637 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Performant Financial by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 526,277 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 60,300 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Performant Financial by 18.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 200,208 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 31,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Performant Financial in the third quarter worth $91,000. 77.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Performant Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ PFMT traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $3.14. 77,227 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,230. The stock has a market cap of $245.83 million, a PE ratio of -31.40 and a beta of 0.14. Performant Financial has a one year low of $2.37 and a one year high of $4.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.57 and a 200-day moving average of $3.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.70 million. Performant Financial had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 6.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Performant Financial will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Performant Financial Company Profile

Performant Financial Corporation provides technology-enabled audit, recovery, and analytics services in the United States. The company identifies improper payments resulting from incorrect coding, procedures that were not medically necessary, incomplete documentation or claims submitted based on outdated fee schedules, and coverage discrepancies; and provides first party call center and other outsourced services.