DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of DaVita (NYSE:DVA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

Several other research firms have also commented on DVA. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of DaVita in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of DaVita from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $118.50.

DaVita Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE DVA opened at $127.82 on Tuesday. DaVita has a 12 month low of $71.51 and a 12 month high of $141.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.68 and a 200-day moving average of $109.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other DaVita news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total value of $3,130,260.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,424,384.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other DaVita news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total value of $3,130,260.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,424,384.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $8,525,414.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at $61,629,578.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,540 shares of company stock valued at $16,551,071 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DaVita

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of DaVita by 1.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 15,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in DaVita in the fourth quarter worth about $2,831,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in DaVita by 135.2% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,601,000 after acquiring an additional 19,759 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in DaVita by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 11,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in DaVita by 2,178.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 108,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,379,000 after purchasing an additional 103,856 shares in the last quarter. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About DaVita

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.