Aetna Inc. (AET) Blows Away Q3 EPS, Revises Guidance

Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET) reported its third quarter results today. The company posted an earnings per share of $1.47, topping the same quarter last year’s $1.30 a share and blowing away analyst estimates of $1.34 for the quarter. Aetna’s revenue came in at $8.9 billion for the quarter, which topped the same quarter last year’s $8.40 billion but narrowly missed consensus estimates of $8.96 billion for the quarter.

The market also seems encouraged over Aetna Inc.. It has returned roughly 15% since the end of the second quarter, meaning that David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, which initiated a $122.89 million position in the company during the second quarter, or Paul Reeder and Ed Shapiro’s Par Capital Management, which boosted its stake in the company by 36% in that period, were in a great position to benefit – and it looks like that trend will continue.

Aetna Inc. “said it already has reached its full-year target for about 18.2 medical members, up 149,000 from the second quarter, although down from last year,” writes the Wall Street Journal. “The company is planning to add more than five million additional members through its planned purchase of Coventry Health Care Inc. (NYSE:CVH) in cash-and-stock deal valued at $5.7 billion when it was announced in August.”