DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of DaVita (NYSE:DVA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on DVA. Truist Financial lifted their price target on DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays began coverage on shares of DaVita in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of DaVita from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $118.50.

DaVita Price Performance

Shares of DVA stock opened at $132.06 on Monday. DaVita has a fifty-two week low of $71.51 and a fifty-two week high of $141.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.49.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. DaVita had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 64.42%. DaVita’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that DaVita will post 9.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $8,525,414.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total transaction of $8,525,414.33. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael David Staffieri sold 29,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.81, for a total transaction of $3,532,957.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,515,279.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 134,540 shares of company stock worth $16,551,071. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DaVita

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its position in shares of DaVita by 5,900.0% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of DaVita in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in DaVita by 88.6% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 313 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in DaVita during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

DaVita Company Profile

DaVita Inc provides kidney dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure in the United States. The company operates kidney dialysis centers and provides related lab services in outpatient dialysis centers. It also offers outpatient, hospital inpatient, and home-based hemodialysis services; operates clinical laboratories that provide routine laboratory tests for dialysis and other physician-prescribed laboratory tests for ESRD patients; and management and administrative services to outpatient dialysis centers.