Market Update: Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) – Aetna launches Medicare Advantage asset sale -sources

[Reuters] – Aetna Inc has launched an auction to sell a portfolio of Medicare Advantage assets as it seeks antitrust approval for its $37 billion acquisition of U.S. health insurance peer Humana Inc, according to people familiar with the matter. Merging Aetna’s and Humana’s Medicare Advantage businesses would make the combined company the largest U.S. manager of the healthcare insurance for seniors and the disabled. Aetna has sent out pitchbooks to potential buyers and will begin collecting bids as soon as next week, the people said on Friday. Read more on this. Aetna Inc. (AET) , valued at $42.05B, started trading this morning at $121.68. Today’s price range has been between $119.18 and $121.70 per share with a trailing 52-week range being $92.42 to $125.47. AET shares are currently priced at 15.17x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 8.54x forward p/e ratio. And for dividend hunters, the company pays shareholders $1.00 per share annually in dividends, yielding 0.83%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 20 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $2.12 per share, which would be $0.07 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.01 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $8.05, which would be a $0.34 better than last year. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $15.70 Billion. If realized, that would be a 3.77% increase over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Bernstein Initiated AET at Outperform (Jun 16, 2016). Previously, Jefferies downgraded AET from Buy to Hold. The average price target for AET shares is $140.47, which is 15.44% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:AET) Similar Articles: Market Update: Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) – A.M. Best Removes From Under Review and Downgrades Issuer Credit Ratings of Aetna Inc. and Some of Its Subsidiaries Market Update: Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) – CoventryCares Medicaid Plan Changes Name to Aetna Better Health of Virginia Market Update: Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) – Aetna’s deal for Humana will push up costs for seniors – think tank