Tuesday, health information service provider WebMD Health Corp. (WBMD) said it began a tender offer to buy up to 5.7 million shares at a price of $37 a share, higher than the $36 per share proposed on November 3. The tender offer will expire on Dec. 10.
The New-York based company said the number of shares proposed to be purchased in the tender offer represents around 10% of WebMD's currently outstanding common shares. The last reported sales price per share of WebMD's common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on November 9, 2009 was $35.75 per share.
Following the merger with Elmwood Park, New Jersey-based HLTH Corp. (HLTH ), WebMD has nearly $1 billion in cash and investments, and will use a portion to fund the tender offer.
While reporting its results earlier this month, WebMD reported a rise in profit for the third quarter, as revenues increased 15% from last year on higher advertising revenues. The company also reiterated its earnings forecast for fiscal year 2009, as well as its fourth quarter.
WBMD is currently trading at $36.17, up $0.42 or 1.17%, on a volume of 0.11 million shares. In the past 52 weeks, the stock trended in a broad range of $13.63 - $36.39, with a three-month average volume of 0.11 million shares.
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