Citi Maintains Buy on WellPoint

Citi is out with its report today on WellPoint WLP, maintaining Buy. In a note to clients, Citi writes, "We rate the shares WellPoint Buy / Low Risk. WellPoint guidance assumes that medical cost trends returned to normal on April 1, while the inpatient admissions survey data from our hospital analyst Gary Taylor suggests inpatient volumes actually fell again in April. If this persists over the balance of the year, as we expect to be the case, it means WellPoint will deliver big earnings upside over the next couple quarters." Citi maintains a $96 PT on WLP. Shares of WLP closed Wednesday at $75.52.