Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Performant Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFMT traded up $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $3.13. The company had a trading volume of 270,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,323. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.76 million, a P/E ratio of -31.30 and a beta of 0.11. Performant Financial has a 12 month low of $2.00 and a 12 month high of $3.61. The company has a current ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The business services provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter. Performant Financial had a negative net margin of 6.61% and a negative return on equity of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $32.57 million for the quarter.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Performant Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFMT. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Performant Financial by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Performant Financial by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 582,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after buying an additional 8,753 shares during the period. White Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in Performant Financial by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 225,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 13,221 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Performant Financial by 170.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 50,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 31,710 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwood Capital Associates LLC boosted its position in Performant Financial by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 244,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 70,682 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

About Performant Financial

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.