Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 726,133 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 91% from the previous session’s volume of 380,812 shares.The stock last traded at $17.20 and had previously closed at $17.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Sterling Check from $16.20 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.20.

Sterling Check Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.31 and its 200 day moving average is $15.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of -170.70 and a beta of 0.49.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $200.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.81 million. Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 7.73% and a negative net margin of 2.07%. Sterling Check’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sterling Check Corp. will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Melanie Laird sold 22,278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total value of $377,834.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,049,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,400,808.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sterling Check

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sterling Check during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,475,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 24.5% in the second quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,477,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,673,000 after purchasing an additional 487,600 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 38.3% in the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,628,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,103,000 after purchasing an additional 450,833 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sterling Check in the first quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 10.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 162,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 15,085 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.34% of the company’s stock.

About Sterling Check

Sterling Check Corp. provides technology-enabled background and identity verification services in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers identity verification services, such as telecom and device verification, identification document verification, facial recognition with biometric matching, social security number verification, and live video chat identification proofing; fingerprinting; background checks, including criminal record checks, sex offender registries, civil court records, motor vehicle and driving license records, executive investigations, credit reports, social media searches, and contingent workforce solutions; liens, judgments, and bankruptcies; and sanctions, risk, and compliance checks.