The healthcare technology company, Cerner Corp., announced the acquisition of Kantar Group’s health division for $375 million.
Cerner (CERN), which expects the deal to close in the first half of 2021, said the transaction is not likely to impact its 2021 earnings. With this acquisition, the company “plans to harness data to improve the safety, efficiency and efficacy of clinical research across life sciences, pharmaceuticals and health care at large.”
The company said, “The combination of Cerner and Kantar Health is expected to enable a two-sided collaboration between providers and the pharmaceutical industry, where researchers can generate insights and use differentiated real-world data assets and expertise to address the most complex clinical research questions.” (See CERN stock analysis on TipRanks)
On Oct. 30, Piper Sandler analyst Sean Wieland raised the stock’s price target to $84 (8.5% upside potential) from $81 and maintained a Buy rating. Wieland expects continued improvement in Cerner’s profitability, thanks to its cost structure that supports margin expansion.
Like Wieland, most of the Street shares a bullish outlook on the stock. The Strong Buy analyst consensus is based on 7 unanimous Buys. The average price target stands at $81.29 and implies upside potential of about 5% to current levels. Shares have advanced 5.5% on a year-to-date basis.
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