Aetna (AET) Stock Falls, Antitrust Officials Reportedly Prepare to Block Humana Deal

Aetna’s (AET) proposed deal with Humana (HUM) is speculated to be on the cusp of being crushed by antitrust regulators.
By Rachel Aldrich ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Aetna (AET)  are down 3.08% to $114.71 on heavy trading volume this afternoon as speculation rises that U.S. antitrust officials will block the company's proposed deal with Humana (HUM), Reuters reports.

Nearly 4.72 million shares of the company have traded hands so far today vs. the stock's average of 3.14 million shares per day.

The U.S. Department of Justice is also poised to stop Anthem's (ANTM) acquisition of Cigna (CI), saying that both deals would hurt consumers.

Aetna, a Hartford, CT-based benefits company agreed to purchase Humana, a Louisville, KY-based healthcare organization in July of last year for $34.1 billion.

The Justice Department takes issue with the two entities' Medicare Advantage businesses, which have too much overlap. Both companies have been searching for assets to divest in order to ease antitrust concerns.

Shares of Humana are down 5.11% to $151.48.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated this stock as a "buy" with a ratings score of A+.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. TheStreet Ratings feels its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: AET

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

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