Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 266,519 Shares of Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Surgery Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGRY) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,234,536 shares of the company’s stock after selling 266,519 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 3.33% of Surgery Partners worth $89,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SGRY. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Surgery Partners by 66.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 747.6% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 3,379 shares during the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Surgery Partners by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Surgery Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $245,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Surgery Partners during the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000.

Surgery Partners Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SGRY stock opened at $23.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 2.73. Surgery Partners, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.50 and a 1 year high of $33.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.48.

Surgery Partners (NASDAQ:SGRY) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. Surgery Partners had a positive return on equity of 2.85% and a negative net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $864.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $828.09 million. On average, research analysts predict that Surgery Partners, Inc. will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Harrison R. Bane sold 56,315 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.64, for a total transaction of $1,443,916.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 107,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,744,428.68. This represents a 34.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jason Eric Evans sold 26,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.65, for a total transaction of $680,238.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 560,698 shares in the company, valued at $14,381,903.70. This represents a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 106,622 shares of company stock valued at $2,717,860 over the last quarter. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SGRY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Surgery Partners from $38.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Surgery Partners from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Surgery Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.63.

Surgery Partners Company Profile

Surgery Partners, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a network of surgical facilities and ancillary services in the United States. The company provides ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals that offer non-emergency surgical procedures in various specialties, including orthopedics and pain management, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, and general surgery.