National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) Stock Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRC)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $19.91 and traded as high as $20.49. National Research shares last traded at $20.43, with a volume of 78,775 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NRC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered National Research from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on shares of National Research from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of National Research to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of National Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, National Research presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

National Research Stock Down 4.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $458.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.60 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.13.

National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $35.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.90 million. National Research had a return on equity of 164.26% and a net margin of 4.18%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that National Research Corporation will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of National Research

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NRC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in National Research by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 250,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,257,000 after buying an additional 9,730 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in National Research by 374.3% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 237,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 187,147 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of National Research by 3.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 112,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new position in shares of National Research in the first quarter worth about $1,531,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of National Research by 61.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 62,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 23,682 shares during the last quarter. 47.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About National Research

National Research Corporation, formerly traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol NRC and known as NRC Health, provides market research, analytics and performance-improvement services to healthcare organizations. Its solutions are designed to help hospitals, health systems and other providers understand the experiences and expectations of patients, employees, physicians and communities.

The company’s offerings have included patient-experience measurement, employee and physician engagement surveys, reputation and brand research, community health assessments, data analytics and advisory services.