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Almost Complete - Earnings Trends
Monday, November 15, 2010 - 5:42pm | 4979Key Points: 3Q Earnings Season almost done -- 460 or 92.0% of S&P 500 reports in so far. Strong earnings season. With a median EPS surprise of 4.98%, and a 3.63 surprise ratio. While those numbers are down from earlier in the reporting season, they are still very good. A total of 320 positive...
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Stifel Financial Downgrades WLP And UNH
Monday, November 15, 2010 - 10:50am | 58Stifel Financial announced today that it has downgraded shares of WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) and UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) – both were previously rated Buy. They have now received a Hold rating. WellPoint Inc. currently trades at $57.04; UnitedHealth Group, Inc. trades at $36.12.
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Coventry Health Care CFO Sells 15,000 Shares of CVH
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 4:55pm | 56In a Form 4 filed earlier today, Coventry Health Care (NYSE: CVH) chief Financial Officer, John Stelben, reported that he sold 15,000 shares of CVH on November 10th for an average price of $25.53. The transaction totaled $382,950. Mr. Stelben owns 20,243 direct shares and 8,309 indirect shares of...
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WellPoint Names Jerry Kertesz, VP Of Sales
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 12:32pm | 107WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP) announced today that Jerry Kertesz has been named vice president of sales and Perry Pogany has been named vice president of account management for its National Accounts business "Both Jerry and Perry are well known to our existing customers and have been instrumental...
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Puts Purchased on HealthSpring (HS)
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 12:29pm | 129Shares of HealthSpring (NYSE: HS) are lower on the session by 0.50%, currently trading at $27.86. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past four months and is currently trading above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Options traders are buying puts on the name today. A short...
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Jefferies Initiates Hold Rating on UnitedHealth Group (UNH)
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 11:04am | 172Jefferies & Company is out with a research report this morning, where it initiates a Hold rating on UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH); it has a $40.00 price target on the stock. The analysts noted that the company's acquisition history has resulted in an organization that is a maze of legal...
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Jefferies Reiterates Buy Rating on Cigna Corp. (CI)
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 10:58am | 147Jefferies & Company is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Buy rating on Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI); it has a $45.00 price target on the stock. The analysts cited two key drivers to their rating: 1) diversification and 2) international growth. They noted that CI derives...
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Jefferies Initiates Buy Rating on HealthSpring (HS)
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 10:50am | 132Jefferies & Company is out with a research report this morning, where it initiates a Buy rating on HealthSpring (NYSE: HS); it has a $35.00 price target on the stock. The analysts cited two key drivers to their rating: 1) "more runway to Reform implementation, and 2) a more open-ended...
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Art Hogan's Pick Of The Week (CI)
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 10:25am | 57Art Hogan of Jefferies & Co. is on CNBC with his pick of the week and he is saying that CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) is his pick of the week. CIGNA Corporation provides health care and related benefits in the United States and internationally. Shares of CI closed at $37.00 yesterday.
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Coverage Initiated On Aetna At Hold
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 9:40am | 179Jefferies & Co. has published a research report on Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) and has initiated coverage at Hold with a $33 price target. In the report, Jefferies writes "Aetna takes a holistic view of its members' health, evidenced by strategic moves over the last 18 months. In 2009, it acquired...
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J.P. Morgan Raising Estimates On Molina Healthcare (MOH)
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 8:57am | 87J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is raising its estimates on Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: MOH), as it has a Neutral rating and a $33 price target on shares. In a note sent to clients, J.P. Morgan writes, "Our 4Q10 EPS estimate rises to $0.50/share from our former $0.40. In addition, our 2011/12 EPS...
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Jefferies Initiates Coverage On Aetna (AET)
Friday, November 12, 2010 - 8:27am | 156Jefferies & Co. is initiating coverage on Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) with a Hold rating and a $33 price target on shares. In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "Historically, the four national, diversified MCOs (UNH, WLP, AET, CI) have been the most aggressive companies to repurchase their stock...
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Options Brief: HealthSpring (HS)
Thursday, November 11, 2010 - 4:12pm | 86Shares of HealthSpring (NYSE: HS) are higher on the session by 0.11%, trading at $28.00. Overall put volume is now running at 40.29x the daily average, with 99% of all puts traded being purchases on the offer. 1,249 contracts have traded on the session so far. HealthSpring, Inc. is a managed care...
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Earnings Scorecard: WellPoint - Analyst Blog
Thursday, November 11, 2010 - 1:03pm | 803Following the release of third-quarter results on November 3, 2010, the majority of the analysts covering WellPoint Inc. (WLP) have made upward revisions to their 2010 and 2011 annual estimates. However, the fourth-quarter of 2010 witnessed more of a downward trend among the analysts over the...
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Company News for November 11, 2010 - Corporate Summary
Thursday, November 11, 2010 - 10:36am | 888• Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) said it will offer free shipping on its website through December 20 • Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) said it will offer its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer for less than $500, a move likely to undercut prices for Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) winning iPad • Cisco (NASDAQ:...