Coverage Initiated On Aetna At Hold

Jefferies & Co. has published a research report on Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) and has initiated coverage at Hold with a $33 price target.

In the report, Jefferies writes "Aetna takes a holistic view of its members' health, evidenced by strategic moves over the last 18 months. In 2009, it acquired Horizon Behavioral Services, making Aetna one of the leading employee assistance program (EAP) providers. The second more recent example is its joint venture deal with CVS/Caremark for pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services. Following one other major player's PBM divestiture, the strategy has become a popular recommendation from equity markets. Instead, Aetna chose to strike a partnership that avails it of a large, stand-alone PBM's sourcing and scale advantages, while retaining its control of the member relationship and the clinical data. Both decisions seem to be driven by a strategy toward capturing the full data continuum of members' care—albeit overwhelmingly in the Commercial space."

Aetna Inc. closed yesterday at $31.83.